SpongeBob SquarePants is still the most popular children's TV show 🧽️

By Sanj Atwal

Published 17 March 2022

OOOOOOOOH...

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? 🍍

SpongeBob SquarePants!

What’s the most popular children’s show on TV? 📺

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

SpongeBob SquarePants is officially the most in-demand children’s TV show in the world – it’s 47 times more popular than the average TV show. 🤩

To find out which TV show is the most “in-demand”, the data scientists at Parrot Analytics answered important questions such as:

Which TV shows are being streamed the most?
Which TV shows are being mentioned the most on social media?
Which TV shows have viewers in the most countries?

SpongeBob SquarePants was found to be 47 times more popular than the average TV show and was ranked higher than every other children’s show in the world. 🧽️

But it’s not just enjoyed by children. SpongeBob first appeared on Nickelodeon in 1999, meaning the show’s original fans are all adults now! 🧔👩

SpongeBob became the first cartoon on Nickelodeon to have over 200 episodes and, 13 seasons later, it’s still as popular as ever.

SpongeBob is so popular that a real species was named after him in 2011.

The world’s first species named after a SpongeBob character is a fungus discovered in Malaysia, named Spongiforma squarepantsii.

The orange-coloured fungus has a spongy texture that protects it from drying out. 🧽️

Did you know?
SpongeBob’s original name was "SpongeBoy", but the name was already taken by a mop company. The show was going to be called SpongeBoy Ahoy!

SpongeBob also has a world record for the most Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards won by a cartoon - 18.

It has won the “Favourite Cartoon” award every year from 2003 to 2021, except in 2008, when Avatar: The Last Airbender won.

This year’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards take place on 9 April 2022. Will SpongeBob win a historic 19th award?

The awards will be presented by two Guinness World Records title holders:

Miranda Cosgrove – in 2010, at age 16, the iCarly star became the world’s highest paid child actress on TV per episode, earning $180,000 (£112,765) per show.
Rob Gronkowski – in 2021, Gronk achieved the highest altitude catch of an American football (188.9 m; 620 ft).

Did you know?
Despite having “squid” in his name, Squidward is actually an octopus, as confirmed by the show’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg. 🐙