The question was which one was more recognized around the world such as if you just went up to random people on the street and ask them either if they've heard of "Doctor Who" or "Knight Rider" and what you'd think more people would knowledge that they've heard of it. As well as if you were to show a picture to also random people on the street of something iconic from each series such as KITT and the TARDIS. How many people would either KNOW what it is by name or just flat out recognize it, even if they couldn't remember that name. Same deal with Hasselhoff or one of the many actors who played the Doctor or a piece of music. How long something has been around or been on the air which, let's be fair, KR has been on the air for more than just the four years of its initial run as Doctor Who has for around 45 years, really doesn't matter. There are shows out now that have been around and on for longer than either that the general public wouldn't have a clue of.
It's not about fan base size because I'M SURE that KR would be blown out of the water due to all the things that create a fanbase, it's about which one is more recognizable and ingrained into the public conscience and just because something might have a large one, it doesn't mean the public has heard of it or gives a ****.
I'm just going to say it, in the US I'm willing to wager that a lot more people wouldn't recognize the TARDIS than wouldn't recognize KITT, hell I'd bet a lot of them would think of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and the phone booth from that one movie (the sequel doesn't matter) before they would ever come close to thinking of Doctor Who.
Obviously in the UK where Doctor Who's main audience is and been a staple of mainstream television there for decades and is a institution of its own would certainly have a larger awareness and recognition, but I'm sure plenty of those same people would recognize KITT as well. There's no rule that one can recognize one and that would cancel out the other. The amount of crap sold on eBay doesn't matter either because those are things that are sought out by fans, not some random person. I think it would be foolish to say Knight Rider would beat a home grown show. It would be like walking around with a photo of Gordon Brown and Barack Obama and asking random people if they know who they are. Actually, in this case there might be more people in the UK that would actually recognize Obama due to just how much damn attention he gets. Maybe Joe Biden would be better.
In the US though, it certainly wouldn't be a contest, especially when many people still wouldn't know who Joe Biden or really most VPs from a picture or any other politicians other than the President and sometimes even that's shaky.In my OPINION I would and already have said that I'd bet more people would recognize something from Knight Rider before they would Doctor Who. Though the number of people who would recognize neither would probably be higher.
EDIT: An example that just came to me that I remembered. It's like many years ago where it was reported that Mario became more widely recognized than Mickey Mouse around the world. Does that mean more people played a Mario game or watched a Mario cartoon than a Mickey Mouse one? Of course not, but even though Mickey had been around for decades and decades before Mario, more people knew who the character was, it doesn't mean Mario (and the games) had or has more fans than Disney's mascot. It just entered into the public conscious around the world in a way Mickey for some reason, didn't.
