List of most watched television broadcasts

Global

On 20 July 1969, an estimated 530 million people watched the live global broadcast of the first ever humans walk on the surface of the moon (this constituted around 14% of total population of the world at the time), despite the fact that the first moonwalk took place in the middle of the night in Europe (at 02:56 in Ireland, Portugal and the United Kingdom and 03:56 in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) and it was not broadcast in the Eastern Bloc except Romania and Poland.

IPG independent media agency Initiative Worldwide estimated that 260 million people worldwide watched the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final (the average audience for the broadcast of the game). Six hundred million watched some part of the game (the "reach"). In 2010 another independent firm estimated that 322 million viewers watched the 2006 final on average, with a reach of 638 million. None of these figures match the estimate by event organizers FIFA, a "global cumulative audience" of 715.1 million people.

U.S. television programming remains one of the most popular forms of entertainment worldwide. This trend was initiated by U.S.-made soap operas and sitcoms such as Dallas, M*A*S*H, The Cosby Show, Seinfeld and Friends, which aired from the early 1980s until the mid-2000s, and then in the late 2000s and 2010s by U.S. medical dramas and police procedurals such as House, CSI and NCIS franchises. All of these are currently syndicated in more than 100 countries, reaching almost 1 billion viewers around the world, and rank among the most watched television series in the world, extending their dominance to a 3-decade span. The annual Miss Universe pageant, headquartered in the U.S. and broadcast in almost 200 countries and hosted by different selected nations, is said to have regularly attracted almost 700 million viewers and ranks among the all-time most watched regularly scheduled yearend television programs in the world.

Around the same period, the global dominance of U.S. television remains rivaled by European television and telenovelas produced both from Latin America and Asia as of 2010s. The annual Eurovision Song Contest, considered to be one of the world's longest running and most watched reality television franchises, is annually reported to have between 100 and 600 million viewers, depending on the source. Prominent personalities in the 1990s and 2000s such as David Hasselhoff and Mexico's Thalia (currently based in the U.S.) starred in primetime series such as the Las Tres Marias trilogy shows (Maria Mercedes, Marimar and Maria la del Barrio), Rosalinda and Baywatch, which were broadcast to almost 2 billion viewers in about 180 countries and still remained among the world's most watched non-U.S.-produced television series. Idols, airing since its inception in 2001, remains as the international television franchise with the largest collective global viewership in the world to date, shown in versions in over 150 countries worldwide; cumulately, all of the various separate versions combined have been watched by at least 6.5 billion viewers (more than 90% of the world's 7-billion human population).

The 2011 Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka was watched live by 135 million people in India, including 67.6 million Indian cable and satellite viewers., as recorded by the ratings agencies TAM and aMap The game was watched by 13.6% of Indian TV-equipped households on average, with a peak of 21.44% at the end of the game. The 2011 final drew more viewers than the semi-final between India and Pakistan, which had an estimated 11.74% TV rating in India for the whole match. This was far less than the figures given by overseas media at the time. Even the game's broadcaster, Star Sports, only "estimated" an audience of 300 million for the semi-final.

The 2008 Summer Olympics boasts the official world record for the largest global viewership, and the highest peak viewer share in the world for a multi-day television broadcast. It is estimated by Nielsen Media Research that between 4.7 billion and 5 billion individual viewers (or around 70% of the world's 7-billion human population) watched some part of the coverage, including its peak final hour of the live broadcast of the closing ceremony in August 2008.

In recent decades, the majority of the reality television franchises broadcasts and international sporting events (which are broadcast live in several countries, regardless of the origin of the program's transmission) tend to comprise some of the most watched television programs around the world, as tallied by their media research bases.

Most watched broadcasts of all time (Total Viewers)

The following is David Dale's approximate ranking of the most watched television shows of all time in Australia using data from Nielsen Corporation and OzTAM

Most viewed broadcasts since 2001 (OzTAM 5 City Metro Average)

The following table is a list of the most viewed programmes based on the OzTAM 5 City Metro Average rating system. It does not include regional numbers (40% of the population) and uses the average viewership, not the peak viewership. Also note these ratings are not comparable with ratings before 2001 due to different methodologies used after this time.

Canada

The two most-watched television broadcasts in Canadian history occurred during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. For the gold medal game of the men's hockey tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics, played between the United States and Canada, confirmed 16.6 million Canadians watched the whole game, roughly one-half of the country's entire population. A groundbreaking 26.5 million Canadians watched some part of the game, over 80 percent of the country's 34-million-person population. According to multiple sources, 13.3 million Canadians watched the games' opening ceremony, which was the previous record.

Many believed the final game of the 1972 Summit Series had up to 18 million viewers, but this was not so; only 4.3 million people watched it. This statistic does not represent the reality that most school children (representing the tail end of the baby-boom i.e. a large population) nationwide watched the game in gymnasiums on only one or two TVs. 10.3 million people watched the ice hockey gold medal final of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

China

China Central Television's Spring Festival Gala has regularly attracted between 700 million to one billion viewers annually.

The CCTV's main evening news broadcast Xinwen Lianbo has a daily audience of around 135 million people, and it is also one of the most expensive shows in the world per advertising spots, with its 2013 advertising slots selling for a record of 5.4 billion yuan.

Germany

Note: The UEFA Euro 2008 final is missing from the list, because the lengthy trophy presentation was included into the official ratings. The game itself was watched by 28.05 million viewers.

Ireland

A list of most-watched shows in the Republic of Ireland in the 21st century was released in January 2015. The Late Late Toy Show held the top six spots, with the 2014 edition drawing 1,593,000 viewers: over one-third of the country's population. Other high-performing shows were Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, crime drama Love/Hate, Mrs. Brown's Boys, The Sunday Game, UEFA Euro 2012 and the Eurovision Song Contest.

Japan

The following list is for Japanese anime only.

New Zealand

In 2011, the television website Throng published a list of the 12 most watched television broadcasts in New Zealand from 1995 to 2011. This is based on average viewership of the program, but it does not include broadcasts from before 1995 or after 2011.

The Rugby World Cup has frequently had large audiences – the Rugby World Cup 2011 final, and a semi-final, both had an average audience of over 2 million.

AGB Nielsen

The following table shows the all-time highest rating television shows in Mega Manila as tallied by AGB Nielsen since 1992. Take note, however, that the ratings are from a single highest recorded episode of the show (in the case of the TV series) and it is not the average over-all ratings for the whole season or series.

South Korea

Viewership ratings are provided by two companies in South Korea, AGB Nielsen Media Research and TNmS. Originally Media Service Korea was the only company providing such information, and it was later acquired by Nielsen Media Research. In 1999 TNS Media Korea also began such service, and later changed its name to TNmS. AGB collects viewership data based on 2050 households, while TNmS has 2000 households with measuring devices. Drama ratings usually vary between the two companies by 2-3%.

Sweden

Statistics from Mediamätning Skandinavien.

Most watched programmes

The following is a list of most watched programmes, excluding sporting events and news coverage. The mid-1980s introduction of in-week repeat showings accounts for six of the top ten programmes. On this measure, the 1996 Christmas edition of Only Fools and Horses is the most watched non-repeated, non-documentary programme of all time in the UK. It is the third most watched programme of all time on a single channel after the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony and the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips in 1973 (see below).

* denotes aggregated figure with repeat showing.

Most watched films

These are the most watched films by total number of viewers (dates are when the films were broadcast, not necessarily when they were produced).

Most watched special events

The majority of special events attracting large audiences are often carried on more than one channel. The most watched programme of all time on a single channel is the 1973 wedding ceremony of The Princess Anne, shown only on BBC1.

Note: The Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (29 April 2011) received a total audience peak of 26 million viewers, but this is a combined figure aggregated from the ten different channels that broadcast the ceremony. The highest figures of these were 13.59 million on BBC1, with an extra 4.02 million watching on ITV.

Most watched programmes per year

Notes

United States

NBC's live telecast of Super Bowl XLIX currently stands as the country's most watched single television broadcast, with 114.4 million viewers. During this broadcast, the halftime show featuring Katy Perry was watched by 118.5 million viewers. The broadcast also reached a current all-time high of 168-million viewership mark in several portions of the conclusion of 1 February 2015 Super Bowl telecast. The previous live telecast of Super Bowl XLV in February 2011 helped Fox become the first ever television network in the United States to be watched by at least 100 million American viewers by average for a single primetime night of programming. Moreover, Super Bowl telecasts account for 23 of the most watched television broadcasts based on overall viewership in U.S. television history. Additionally, the National Football League (or NFL) regular season is watched since 2012 by at least 200 million individuals in the United States, accounting for the largest consistent annual nationwide viewership for any television event in U.S. television history (representing almost 70% of the American households, more than 80% of the total U.S. television viewers, and more than 60% of the maintained 2010s U.S. population of 320 million).

Most watched series finales – Top 15 list

This table lists the 15 most watched U.S. television series finales in history, effective as of the current season. Take note, however, that all the Nielsen ratings for U.S. television series finales broadcast starting 2003 were adjusted from the 2007-2008 season to incorporate both the standard live primetime and time-shifted or delayed DVR viewership figures (based on the telecast's final 5-minute standard run) in the United States only (from the dates of their original series finale runs).

The finale is not necessarily a show's most watched episode. Notable examples include the CBS' Dallas, viewed by about 90 million American viewers after the network's 21 November 1980 primetime telecast of the resolution episode of the internationally known 'Who Shot J.R.' cliffhanger (the second highest rated single television broadcast in U.S. history, watched by 53.3% of American households and more than 76% of the total U.S. television viewers for that year), almost thrice as many viewers as there were for the 1991 series finale (33.3 million viewers).

The highest-rated single television broadcast in U.S. history is the 150-minute-long final episode of M*A*S*H* (which remains the sole regular U.S. primetime television series to be watched by at least 100 million viewers in the United States alone for an episode), transmitted on primetime by CBS on 28 February 1983, viewed at a peak conclusion by 125 million American viewers (or 60.2% of American households and at least 77% of the total U.S. television viewers). When TV miniseries are taken into the Nielsen tallies, ABC's Roots posted the second most watched series finale in U.S. history, watched on 30 January 1977, by 100 million viewers (51.1% of American households and more than 71% of the total U.S. television viewers that year), but attracted the largest viewership for any type of primetime television series in U.S. history – a record currently standing at between 130 million and 140 million American viewers for its 8-part installment in January 1977 (peaking up to 80% of the total U.S. television viewers in 1977).

CBS' Everybody Loves Raymond bumped the syndicated series Star Trek: The Next Generation out of the Top 15 Nielsen tally of the all-time most watched U.S. TV series finales in May 2005, but the latter remains the most watched of all syndicated programs in U.S. history. NBC aired 2 of the top 5 all-time most watched overall U.S. television series finales to date (both of sitcom genre, behind the 1983 M.A.S.H. and 1977 Roots respective final episodes, and also sandwiching the peak rating record of the August 1967, final broadcast of ABC's The Fugitive) – the 21 May 1993, broadcast of the series finale of Cheers (the most watched overall U.S. television series finale in the advent of cable television starting the mid-1990s, covering almost 93.5 million American viewers and 46% of all American households that year), and the primetime telecast of the final episode of Seinfeld on 14 May 1998. Take note that the gap of the viewerships between these and each of the series finales (on 6 and 13 May 2004) of fellow NBC sitcoms Friends and Frasier (which became part of the long highly regarded 'Must See TV' tagline for Thursday primetime schedule of NBC from 1982 to 2004) fall between 20 million and 30 million viewers.

Most watched series episode of the decade

This table lists the most watched overall television episode for every decade in the United States, as tallied by the Nielsen Media Research since the 1950–1951 television season. Take note that the audience share category of the Nielsen ratings only began in the 1959–1960 television season, and that all the Nielsen ratings for U.S. telecasts starting 2003 were adjusted from the 2007-2008 season to incorporate both the standard live primetime and time-shifted or delayed DVR viewership figures (based on the telecast's final 5-minute standard run) in the United States only (from the dates of their original series finale runs)..

Most watched series per year

This table lists all the TV shows with the highest average household Nielsen rating for each television season in the United States. Take note, however, that the final annual-high Nielsen household share ratings starting the 2007–08 season incorporate both the standard live primetime and time-shifted or delayed DVR viewership figures in the United States only.

Fox's American Idol holds the record for most consecutive (and overall total) seasons at No. 1, with eight. It is also the first ever television series of reality singing competition genre (and Fox's first ever television program) to take the top position in the Nielsen annual primetime television ratings. Take note, however, that American Idol usually airs two live episodes a week for its finals stage (Tuesdays and Wednesdays from its inception in 2002 to 2010, and Wednesdays and Thursdays between 2011 and 2014); for the 2003–2004 season, only the Tuesday (or competition stage) show was ranked No. 1, and for that television season, American Idol as a whole placed second (potentially giving the top spot to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from CBS, if the ratings of American Idol for that year had been summarized as only 1 day-per-week broadcast format). From 2005 to 2011, the whole show was No. 1 for only seven consecutive (and overall total) seasons, but still ranked No.1 overall in the 18–49 demographic for eight consecutive seasons.

CBS's All in the Family and NBC's The Cosby Show share second place, ranked No. 1 overall each for 5 consecutive (and overall total) seasons, from 1972 to 1976, and 1986 to 1990, respectively. If the total number of seasons of Nielsen No.1-leads are counted, CBS's 60 Minutes also share second place, and to date is the only primetime program to lead the Nielsen primetime ratings in 3 separate decades – 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s, and together with NBC's ER and Friends, remained the latest primetime programs in the United States of television news, medical drama and sitcom genres to rank first in the Nielsen annual ratings, back in 1994, 1999 and 2002, respectively. NBC's Seinfeld remained as the latest television series to end its run leading the annual Nielsen television ratings, back in 1998. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? remains the latest primetime program from ABC to lead the Nielsen annual primetime television ratings, back in 2000. Meanwhile, NBC's Sunday Night Football debuted in 2012 as the country's first ever regular primetime sports program to rank No.1 in the Nielsen annual primetime television ratings.

Record-setting U.S. television programs as listed below are in bold text.
     The program with the all-time highest annual Nielsen average rating
     Two or more programs tie for highest average Nielsen rating in the same season
     The program with the all-time longest consecutive season winning streak in Nielsen ratings

Longest dominating series of the decade

This table lists the primetime television series with the most number of seasons of No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for every decade in the United States, as tallied by the Nielsen Media Research since the 1950–1951 television season. Only the Nielsen household share will be shown in the following table.

The U.S. television program with the longest ever streak at No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings is written in bold text.