I don't understand why one has to be better than the other. They're both equally great. They're also very different from each other, while also being very similar. Their basic stories aren't that different but the approach to storytelling is. The Sopranos is a pure in depth character study of the main character and everyone around him. Breaking Bad seems to be more focused on a few characters, but it also wants to tell an overarching story. In The Sopranos it's like you're watching Tony go through every day life problems, but the mobster version. In Breaking Bad there's this sense of buildup and the expectation of a climax at some point. There's this sende of greatness whereas in The Sopranos the show doesn't seem to care about it that much. While they're similar, I wouldn't watch them interchangeably.