The following is a list of most watched television broadcasts, organized by country
and based on various criteria.
United Kingdom
Most watched episodes
(by total number of viewers, [1]; source: British Film
Institute)
One-off events
(by total number of viewers, [2])
Most watched films
(by total number of viewers, [3]; dates are when the films aired, not necessarily when they were produced.)
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).
Top 30 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 |
Percentage of
households |
Share |
Date |
Net |
| 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 |
Movie: 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 |
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 |
Percentage 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 |
Most watched Series Finales
(by total viewers; source: Reuters)
| Rank |
Show |
Number of
Viewers
(in millions) |
Percentage 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.
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 (was
bought out by Nielsen in February of 1950) and Variety.
These are the programs that finished with the highest average Nielsen rating in each television season: