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- Nothing strange: Russian "Lilies of the Valley" caught up with the cult series about teenagers of the 80s in the rating
Nothing strange: Russian "Lilies of the Valley" caught up with the cult series about teenagers of the 80s in the rating
Until recently, the viewer was rushing between platforms in search of that very series — now the choice has become more obvious. The new Russian rating of Medialogy for the first quarter of 2026 not only put the projects in their places, but also fixed a turning point: the domestic industry has reached equal positions with global players. Half of the Russian TV series are in the top ten. Read about the stable leaders and newcomers on the list in our article.
A new alignment of forces
The Russian musical melodrama "Lilies of the Valley" and the action—packed detective story "First Division" confidently impose competition on the most popular American project of recent years - "Very Strange Cases". This is exactly what the top three leaders of the new rating of Russian TV series look like in the first quarter of 2026.
According to analysts, the domestic serial market is rapidly gaining weight: it occupies half of the top ten and 57.2% of the total top 100 index.
A shot from the TV series "Lilies of the Valley. The second Spring"
If we compare with the first rating of 2025, where foreign projects significantly dominated the top of the list, the current quarter shows an obvious shift. Russian TV series have gained a foothold not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of influence. At that time, there were 59 domestic projects on the list, and now there are 63. And most importantly, exactly half of the top ten belongs to Russian titles.
The domestic industry has not just adapted to the new production and distribution conditions — it has begun to dictate the rules, building up its own hits that can compete with international releases on equal terms.
The absolute leader of the quarter was the final season of the American hit "Stranger Things" — 15,948 points and 10.7% of the total rating. The series unseated the Korean thriller "The Squid Game." "Stranger Things" has a large fanbase around the world, and some Russian cinemas even showed the finale of the fifth season. The completion of the cult story became a media event that united several generations of viewers at once.
A shot from the TV series "Stranger Things"
In second place are the Russian "Lilies of the Valley" (8829 points). The series has become a rare example of an organic synthesis of familiar melodrama and an urgent socio-political agenda. The project made famous not only the main actors Nika Zdorik and Sergey Gorodnichy, but also a number of musicians, including Zhenya Trofimov from the group "Room of Culture" and the duo Nansi & Sidorov.
The third place was taken by the "First Department" (7745 points). The series continues the tradition of strong genre drama, where not only intrigue is important, but also a sense of documentary authenticity. In fourth place is the newcomer of the rating, the anime "Magic Battle" (6419 points). The popular dark fantasy about high school student Yuji Itadori, who swallows the cursed finger of a powerful demon to save his friends, even shifted "Very Strange Things" from the first line in March.
A shot from the TV series "The First Department"
The Russian "Trace" closes the top five (3563 points). The project has been in existence for 18 years. During this time, it has become not only a phenomenon of stability, but also a Russian record holder for the number of episodes — more than 3,500. And in the top 100 for 2025, he occupied a confident third place.
— I think any similar projects in a similar genre will not be able to beat us. No matter how many attempts there are to shoot something similar, they won't catch up with us — we've gone too far," actress Olga Kolosova, who played the head of the FES, Galina Rogozin, told Izvestia.
In the sixth position is the family comedy "Holidays" (3538 points). This is a good example of how the light genre is becoming in demand again after a period dominated by dark dramas. The seventh and eighth places were taken by the Turkish hits —Distant City" (2356 points) and "Cranberry sherbet" (2311 points).
A shot from the TV series "Sled"
And the ninth place in the prequel "Game of Thrones" is "Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" (2272 points). Despite the shift in focus from the large-scale political intrigues of the main saga to a calm setting about the adventures of a small man, the project immediately won the audience's love. The series is based on a series of novels by George R.R. Martin, the plot of which takes place about 100 years before the "Game of Thrones".
Completing the top ten is another Russian project about the everyday life of the homicide department of the Petrovsky District Police Department of St. Petersburg, The Magnificent Five (2265 points).
How to choose the leaders of the rating
The Medialogia rating provides the most objective picture of viewer preferences and uses 19 metrics, including data from search engines, TV viewing, and social media discussions. This is how the final data of each project is generated.
— It's always very good when some new metric appears that allows you to evaluate a rather subjective thing. This indicates the audience's interest. And our responsibility as representatives of the industry is to follow these interests," producer Alexander Akopov told Izvestia.
Of the 100 positions, 91 are for TV series, five for anime and four for animated series. At the same time, 69.5% are continuations and franchises, which confirms the trend for a long life of successful stories. However, the share of prime ministers is growing rapidly: if in January they occupied only a fifth, then by March it was already almost a third.
A shot from the TV series "Cranberry sherbet"
The success of the domestic product encourages the creators to continue producing successful TV series. So, the authors of "Fisher" have already announced the filming of a new season, in which Alexander Petrov will appear.
The dynamics within the quarter are also interesting. January was the only month when foreign projects outstripped Russian ones, largely due to the effect of the finale of "Very Strange Cases." By February and March, the situation had already changed, and new domestic projects began to actively enter the top 30.
For the viewer, such a rating is not just a statistic, but a convenient navigator. In an environment where hundreds of projects are released every year, it is precisely such research that allows you to quickly navigate and choose the series that are really discussed and in demand.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
