List of most-watched television broadcasts

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The following is a list of most-watched television broadcasts, organized by country and based on various criteria.

Contents

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] Most-watched episodes

(by total number of viewers, [1]; source: British Film Institute)

Rank Show Episode Number of Viewers Date Network
1 EastEnders Den divorces Angie 30.15 million 25 December 1986 BBC1
2 Coronation Street Alan Bradley killed by tram 26.93 million 8 December 1989 ITV
3 Coronation Street Hilda Ogden leaves 26.00+ million[1] 25 December 1987 ITV
4 Only Fools and Horses Time On Our Hands 24.35 million 29 December 1996 BBC1
5 EastEnders Pat Butcher runs down little girl 24.30 million 2 January 1992 BBC1
6 Royal Variety Performance Shirley Bassey, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore 24.20 million 14 November 1965 ITV
7 To the Manor Born Series 1 Finale 23.95 million 11 November 1979 BBC1

[edit] One-off events

(by total number of viewers, [2])

Rank Event Number of Viewers Date Network
1 1966 World Cup Final 32.30 million 30 July 1966 BBC/ITV
2 Funeral of Princess Diana 32.10 million 6 September 1997 BBC1/ITV
3 British Royal Family documentary 30.69 million 1969 BBC1/ITV
4 Apollo 13 splashdown 28.60 million 17 April 1970 BBC1/ITV
5 FA Cup replay: Chelsea vs. Leeds 28.49 million 29 April 1970 BBC1/ITV
6 Royal Wedding of Charles & Diana 28.40 million 29 July 1981 BBC1/ITV
7 Wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips 27.60 million 14 November 1973 BBC1
8 JFK assassination news 24.15 million 22 November 1963 BBC1/ITV

[edit] Most-watched films

(by total number of viewers, [3]; dates are when the films were broadcast, not necessarily when they were produced.)

Rank Film Number of Viewers Date Network
1 Live and Let Die 23.50 million 20 January 1980 ITV
2 Jaws 23.25 million 8 October 1981 ITV
3 The Spy Who Loved Me 22.90 million 28 March 1982 ITV
4 Diamonds Are Forever 22.15 million 15 March 1981 ITV
5 Crocodile Dundee 21.75 million 25 December 1989 BBC1

[edit] United States

Sources: BBC, Reuters, Nielsen Media Research

Some sources, such as PBS [4] and the official website of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization [5], describe the heavily-promoted made-for-television production of Cinderella, broadcast once on CBS in 1957, as the most-watched television show. According to those sources, it garnered 107 million viewers, more than the M*A*S*H finale cited in most lists. Based on Census Bureau mid-year population estimates [6], Cinderella would have had to attract an audience representing 62.2% of the U.S. population (171.9 million), compared with the 45.3% that M*A*S*H attracted (of 233.8 million).

[edit] Top 29 network primetime telecasts of all time

(from January 1964 to June 2006; ranked by rating, or "Percentage of Households." Households could include many viewers; share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to a specific program; source: Nielsen Media Research and Variety)

Few post-1990 telecasts are listed. With the ubiquity of cable and satellite television, typical American households have a far greater choice of programming: dozens of specialty and broadcast channels, as opposed to the handful of broadcast channels during the era represented by most programs on this list. More recently, the Internet has also drawn viewers away from television. Future programs with viewership levels (in terms of percentage of TV households) that rank high on this list are probably unlikely to exist in the foreseeable future except for a Super Bowl.

Rank Show or Episode Number of Households Percent of Households Share Date Network
1 M*A*S*H series finale: "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" 50.15 million 60.2% 77% February 28, 1983 CBS
2 Dallas episode: "Who Done It?" aka "Who Shot J.R.?" 41.47 million 53.3% 76% November 21, 1980 CBS
3 Roots Part VIII (finale) 36.38 million 51.1% 71% January 30, 1977 ABC
4 Super Bowl XVI (San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals) 40.02 million 49.1% 73% January 24, 1982 CBS
5 Super Bowl XVII (Washington Redskins vs. Miami Dolphins) 40.48 million 48.6% 69% January 30, 1983 NBC
6 XVII Winter Olympics: Ladies' figure skating - short program
featuring Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding 		45.69 million 48.5% 64% February 23, 1994 CBS
7 Super Bowl XX (Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots) 41.49 million 48.3% 70% January 26, 1986 NBC
8 Gone with the Wind telecast (part 1) 33.96 million 47.7% 65% November 7, 1976 NBC
9 Gone with the Wind telecast (part 2) 33.75 million 47.4% 64% November 8, 1976 NBC
10 Super Bowl XII (Dallas Cowboys vs. Denver Broncos) 34.41 million 47.2% 67% January 15, 1978 CBS
11 Super Bowl XIII (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys) 35.09 million 47.1% 74% January 21, 1979 NBC
12 Bob Hope Christmas Special 27.26 million 46.6% 64% January 15, 1970 NBC
13 Super Bowl XVIII (L.A. Raiders vs. Washington Redskins) 38.88 million 46.4% 71% January 22, 1984 CBS
14 Super Bowl XIX (San Francisco 49ers vs. Miami Dolphins) 39.39 million 46.4% 63% January 20, 1985 ABC
15 Super Bowl XIV (Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Los Angeles Rams) 35.33 million 46.3% 67% January 20, 1980 CBS
16 Super Bowl XXX (Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers) 44.15 million 46.0% 68% January 28, 1996 NBC
17 Film: The Day After 38.55 million 46.0% 62% November 20, 1983 ABC
18 Roots Part VI 32.68 million 45.9% 66% January 28, 1977 ABC
19 The Fugitive series finale: "The Judgement: Part 2" 25.70 million 45.9% 72% August 29, 1967 ABC
20 Super Bowl XXI (New York Giants vs. Denver Broncos) 40.03 million 45.8% 66% January 25, 1987 CBS
21 Roots Part V 32.54 million 45.7% 71% January 27, 1977 ABC
22 Super Bowl XXVIII (Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills) 42.86 million 45.5% 66% January 30, 1994 NBC
23 Cheers series finale: "One For The Road" 42.36 million 45.5% 64% May 20, 1993 NBC
24 Super Bowl XXVII (Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills) 41.99 million 45.1% 66% January 31, 1993 NBC
25 Bob Hope Christmas Show 27.05 million 45.0% 61% January 14, 1971 NBC
26 Roots Part III 31.90 million 44.8% 68% January 25, 1977 ABC
27 Super Bowl XXXII (Denver Broncos vs. Green Bay Packers) 43.63 million 44.5% 67% January 25, 1998 NBC
28 Super Bowl XI (Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings) 31.61 million 44.4% 73% January 9, 1977 NBC
29 Super Bowl XV (Oakland Raiders vs. Philadelphia Eagles) 34.54 million 44.4% 63% January 25, 1981 NBC

[edit] Top network primetime telecasts since 2000 (by viewers)

(from January 1, 2000 to the present; share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to a specific program; source: Nielsen Media Research and TV Basics)

Rank Show or Episode Number of Viewers Percent of Households Share Date Network
1 Super Bowl XLI
(Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears) 		93.1 million[2] 42.0% 63% February 4, 2007 CBS
2 Super Bowl XL
(Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Seattle Seahawks) 		90.7 million[3] 41.6% 62% February 5, 2006 ABC
3 Super Bowl XXXVIII
(New England Patriots vs. Carolina Panthers)		89.8 million[4] 41.4% 63% February 1, 2004 CBS
4 Super Bowl XXXIX
(New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles) 		86.1 million[5] 41.1% 62% February 6, 2005 FOX
5 Super Bowl XXXVII
(Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders) 		88.6 million[4] 40.7% 61% January 26, 2003 ABC
6 Super Bowl XXXIV
(St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans) 		88.5 million[4] 43.3% 63% January 30, 2000 ABC
7 Super Bowl XXXVI
(New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams) 		86.8 million[4] 40.4% 61% February 3, 2002 FOX
8 Super Bowl XXXV
(Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants) 		84.3 million[4] 40.4% 61% January 28, 2001 CBS
9 Friends series finale: "The Last One" 52.5 million[6] 29.8% 43% May 6, 2004 NBC
10 Survivor season 1 finale: "The Final Four" 51.7 million[7] 28.2% 44% August 23, 2000 CBS
11 72nd Academy Awards 46.3 million[8] 29.2% 48% March 26, 2000 ABC
12 AFC Championship Game of 2004 NFL Season
(New England Patriots vs. Pittsburgh Steelers) 		44.3 million[9] 25.8% 38% January 23, 2005 CBS
13 76th Academy Awards 43.5 million[8] 26.0% 40% February 29, 2004 ABC
14 XIX Olympic Winter Games:
Ladies' figure skating - long program 		43.3 million[10] 26.8% 41% February 21, 2002 NBC

[edit] Most-watched series finales

(sources: Reuters, ratings data from USA Today weekly ratings charts)

Rank Series Number of Viewers
(in millions) 		Percent of Households Share Date Network
1 M*A*S*H 105.9 60.2% 77% February 28, 1983 CBS
2 Cheers 80.4 45.5% 64% May 20, 1993 NBC
3 Seinfeld 76.3 41.3% 58% May 14, 1998 NBC
4 Friends 52.5 29.8% 43% May 6, 2004 NBC
5 Magnum, P.I. 50.7[11] 32.0% 48% May 1, 1988 CBS
6 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 50.0  ?  ? May 22, 1992 NBC
7 The Cosby Show 44.4 28.0% 45% April 30, 1992 NBC
8 All in the Family 40.2[11]  ?  ? April 8, 1979 CBS
9 Family Ties 36.3 20.8% 35% May 14, 1989 NBC
10 Home Improvement 35.5 21.6% 34% May 25, 1999 ABC
11 Dallas 33.3 22.0% 38% May 3, 1991 CBS
12 Everybody Loves Raymond 32.9 20.2% 29% May 16, 2005 CBS
13 Gunsmoke 30.9[11]  ?  ? March 31, 1975 CBS
14 The Fugitive 30.0[12] 45.9% 72% August 29, 1967 ABC
15 Newhart 29.5 18.7% 29% May 21, 1990 CBS
16 Golden Girls 27.2 18.9% 38% May 7, 1992 NBC
17 Frasier 25.2 16.3% 25% May 13, 2004 NBC
18 Night Court 24.6 16.5% 26% May 13, 1992 NBC
19 Full House 24.3 14.6% 25% May 23, 1995 ABC
20 St. Elsewhere 22.5[11] ?  ? May 25, 1988 NBC
21 MacGyver 22.3 13.8% 26% May 21, 1992 ABC
22 ALF 21.7 13.1% 24% March 24, 1990 NBC
23 Growing Pains 21.1 13.3% 24% April 25, 1992 ABC
23 The Wonder Years 21.0 13.9% 23% May 12, 1993 ABC
24 Who's The Boss 20.5 12.7% 24% April 25, 1992 ABC
25 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 19.9 13.1% 22% May 20, 1996 NBC
26 Mad About You 19.8 13.6% 20% May 24, 1999 NBC
27 Knots Landing 19.6 13.9% 22% May 13, 1993 CBS
28 Bonanza 19.3[11]  ?  ? January 16, 1973 NBC
29 Will & Grace 18.4 11.7% 18% May 18, 2006 NBC
30 Murphy Brown 17.5 12.3% 19% May 18, 1998 CBS
31 Hill Street Blues 16.3[11]  ?  ? May 12, 1987 NBC
32 Married With Children 15.2 10.0% 16% May 5, 1997 FOX
33 Monday Night Football 14.43[13]  ?  ? December 26, 2005 ABC
34 JAG 13.98[14]  ?  ? April 29, 2005 CBS
35 King of Queens 13.5[15] 8.8% 13% May 14, 2007 CBS
36 NYPD Blue 13.3[11]  ?  ? March 1, 2005 ABC
37 Touched by an Angel 12.9[16]  ?  ? April 27, 2003 CBS
38 The Sopranos 11.9  ?  ? June 10, 2007 HBO
39 The Nanny 11.1 8.1% 14% May 12, 1999 CBS
40 Sex and the City 10.6[17]  ?  ? February 22, 2004 HBO

The most-watched finale is not necessarily a show's most-watched episode. Friends, for example, had 52.9 million viewers for a 1996 episode that followed Super Bowl XXX.

[edit] Annual top-rated shows (1950 to present)

Nielsen began compiling ratings for television beginning in 1950. Prior to that year, television ratings were compiled by a number of other sources, including C. E. Hooper (which was bought out by Nielsen in February 1950) and Variety.

These are the programs that finished with the highest average Nielsen rating in each television season:

Season Show Network
1950-1951 Texaco Star Theater NBC
1951-1952 Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts CBS
1952-1953 I Love Lucy CBS
1953-1954 I Love Lucy CBS
1954-1955 I Love Lucy CBS
1955-1956 The $64,000 Question CBS
1956-1957 I Love Lucy CBS
1957-1958 Gunsmoke CBS
1958-1959 Gunsmoke CBS
1959-1960 Gunsmoke CBS
1960-1961 Gunsmoke CBS
1961-1962 Wagon Train NBC
1962-1963 The Beverly Hillbillies CBS
1963-1964 The Beverly Hillbillies CBS
1964-1965 Bonanza NBC
1965-1966 Bonanza NBC
1966-1967 Bonanza NBC
1967-1968 The Andy Griffith Show CBS
1968-1969 Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In NBC
1969-1970 Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In NBC
1970-1971 Marcus Welby, M.D. ABC
1971-1972 All in the Family CBS
1972-1973 All in the Family CBS
1973-1974 All in the Family CBS
1974-1975 All in the Family CBS
1975-1976 All in the Family CBS
1976-1977 Happy Days ABC
1977-1978 Laverne and Shirley ABC
1978-1979 Laverne and Shirley ABC
1979-1980 60 Minutes CBS
1980-1981 Dallas CBS
1981-1982 Dallas CBS
1982-1983 60 Minutes CBS
1983-1984 Dallas CBS
1984-1985 Dynasty ABC
1985-1986 The Cosby Show NBC
1986-1987 The Cosby Show NBC
1987-1988 The Cosby Show NBC
1988-1989 The Cosby Show NBC
1989-1990 (tie) The Cosby Show NBC
(tie) Roseanne ABC
1990-1991 Cheers NBC
1991-1992 60 Minutes CBS
1992-1993 60 Minutes CBS
1993-1994 Home Improvement ABC
1994-1995 Seinfeld NBC
1995-1996 ER NBC
1996-1997 ER NBC
1997-1998 Seinfeld NBC
1998-1999 ER NBC
1999-2000 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ABC
2000-2001 Survivor CBS
2001-2002 Friends NBC
2002-2003 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS
2003-2004 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CBS
2004-2005 American Idol FOX
2005-2006 American Idol FOX
2006-2007 American Idol FOX

[edit] World

There are no exact figures available for global television events. However, a report by media agency Initiative Worldwide stated that the 2006 FIFA World Cup was the most-watched sporting event of that year with an average 1.2 billion viewers per match [7]. Many believe Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii was the most-watched program of all time, recording 90% of households in some countries.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hilda and Stan UK's most romantic. Daily Mail (February 8, 2002). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  2. ^ XCIII Million Watch Super Bowl XLI. Zap2it (February 5, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-05.
  3. ^ Azote, Abigail (November 6, 2006). From 'Supernatural,' a boost from Bush. Media Life Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  4. ^ a b c d e VNU Media and Marketing Guide for Super Bowl. Nielsen Media Research (February 2, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  5. ^ Super Bowl Earns Super Ratings. Associated Press (February 6, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  6. ^ Vasquez, Diego (May 12, 2004). Gadzooks! A not so perky 'Survivor.'. Media Life Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
  7. ^ Armstrong, Mark (August 24, 2000). "Survivor" Richard: Bigger than Oscar. E! Online. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  8. ^ a b Bowles, Scott (January 26, 2005). Oscars lack blockbuster to lure TV viewers. USA Today. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  9. ^ Fitzgerald, Toni (January 31, 2005). Terrell Owens, Fox is rooting for you. Media Life Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-11-11.
  10. ^ Byrne, Bridget (February 26, 2002). Olympics Runs Rings Around Ratings. E! Online. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Die erfolgreichsten Serien-Finale (May 23, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
  12. ^ Television Top 100: The 1960s. Entertainment Weekly (May 23, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  13. ^ Berman, Marc (January 5, 2006). The Programming Insider. Mediaweek. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
  14. ^ Berman, Marc (May 4, 2005). The Programming Insider. Mediaweek. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
  15. ^ IMDb (May 15, 2007).
  16. ^ Berman, Marc (April 30, 2003). The Programming Insider. Mediaweek. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
  17. ^ Berman, Marc (February 25, 2004). The Programming Insider. Mediaweek. Retrieved on 2006-10-23.
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