New Netflix data reveals the UK's highly unusual viewing habits by time of day

Netflix has released loads of data about what time of day people are watching specific shows – and some of the stats are kind of surprising. 

The data – gathered over six months from 77 million accounts and released this week in the run up to the new season of Game of Thrones –  shows that 6am is the most popular time of day to watch comedy, with Fresh Prince, How I Met Your Mother and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt the top choices for whoever it is who’s both up at six am and also gagging to watch a popular TV sitcom.

Are they insomniacs? Have they been up all night? Are people making their way through several episodes of How I Met Your Mother before they get the bus to work? We don’t know. 

At lunchtime, according to Netflix, people are most likely to watch dramas including Mad Men, Orange Is The New Black, and Bloodline. 

Scary films are on the agenda after about 9pm, Netflix say.

“It’s no surprise thrillers like The Walking Dead, Stranger Things and Breaking Bad are being enjoyed in the evening - globally the genre sees a 27 percent increase come 9 p.m,” it writes. “But viewers are kicking Rick Grimes, the Upside Down and Walter White out of bed by 11PM and restoring balance with partners like Leslie Knope (Parks and Recreation), Dev Shah (Master of None) and Bojack Horseman before they hit the hay - apparently members around the world choose to start and end their day with a laugh.”

Night owls – people watching between midnight at 6am – are most likely to watch documentaries including Planet Earth. 

The data, which was drawn from the viewing habits of customers in 22 countries, was collected to celebrate the release of House Of Cards’  upcoming fifth season: it’s out on 30^th May, so look out for it when you’re on one of those 6.30am How I Met Your Mother binges you love so much.