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TV Basics: Top 50 Sports Telecasts of All Time
Forty of the top 50 sports programs are Super Bowl games. In third place is the XVII Winter Olympics (2/23/94); this ratings spike can be attributed to the Harding/Kerrigan "incident." |
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| 1 |
Super Bowl XVI |
1/24/1982 |
CBS |
49.1 |
| 2 |
Super Bowl XVII |
1/30/1983 |
NBC |
48.6 |
| 3 |
XVII Winter Olympics |
2/23/1994 |
CBS |
48.5 |
| 4 |
Super Bowl XX |
1/26/1986 |
NBC |
48.3 |
| 5 |
Super Bowl XII |
1/15/1978 |
CBS |
47.2 |
| 6 |
Super Bowl XIII |
1/21/1979 |
NBC |
47.1 |
| 7 |
Super Bowl XVIII |
1/22/1984 |
CBS |
46.4 |
| 7 |
Super Bowl XIX |
1/20/1985 |
ABC |
46.4 |
| 9 |
Super Bowl XIV |
1/20/1980 |
CBS |
46.3 |
| 10 |
Super Bowl XXX |
1/28/1996 |
NBC |
46.0 |
| 11 |
Super Bowl XXI |
1/25/1987 |
CBS |
45.8 |
| 12 |
Super Bowl XXVIII |
1/29/1994 |
NBC |
45.5 |
| 13 |
Super Bowl XXVII |
1/31/1993 |
NBC |
45.1 |
| 14 |
Super Bowl XXXII |
1/25/1998 |
NBC |
44.5 |
| 15 |
Super Bowl XI |
1/9/1977 |
NBC |
44.4 |
| 15 |
Super Bowl XV |
1/25/1981 |
NBC |
44.4 |
| 17 |
Super Bowl VI |
1/16/1972 |
CBS |
44.2 |
| 18 |
XVII Winter Olympics |
2/25/1994 |
CBS |
44.1 |
| 19 |
Super Bowl XXIII |
1/22/1989 |
NBC |
43.5 |
| 20 |
Super Bowl XXXI |
1/26/1997 |
FOX |
43.3 |
| 20 |
Super Bowl XXXIV |
1/30/2000 |
ABC |
43.3 |
| 22 |
Super Bowl XLII |
2/3/2008 |
FOX |
43.2 |
| 23 |
NFC Championship Game |
1/10/1982 |
CBS |
42.9 |
| 24 |
Super Bowl VII |
1/14/1973 |
NBC |
42.7 |
| 25 |
Super Bowl XLI |
2/4/2007 |
CBS |
42.6 |
| 26 |
Super Bowl IX |
1/12/1975 |
NBC |
42.4 |
| 27 |
Super Bowl X |
1/18/1976 |
CBS |
42.3 |
| 28 |
Super Bowl XLIII |
2/1/2009 |
NBC |
42.0 |
| 29 |
Super Bowl XXV |
1/27/1991 |
ABC |
41.9 |
| 29 |
Super Bowl XXII |
1/31/1988 |
ABC |
41.9 |
| 31 |
Super Bowl VIII |
1/13/1974 |
CBS |
41.6 |
| 31 |
Super Bowl XL |
2/5/2006 |
ABC |
41.6 |
| 33 |
Super Bowl XXXVIII |
2/1/2004 |
CBS |
41.4 |
| 34 |
Super Bowl XXIX |
1/29/1995 |
ABC |
41.3 |
| 35 |
Super Bowl XXXIX |
2/6/2005 |
FOX |
41.1 |
| 36 |
Super Bowl XXXVII |
1/6/2003 |
ABC |
40.7 |
| 37 |
Super Bowl XXXVI |
2/3/2002 |
FOX |
40.4 |
| 37 |
Super Bowl XXXV |
1/28/2001 |
CBS |
40.4 |
| 39 |
Super Bowl XXVI |
1/26/1992 |
CBS |
40.3 |
| 40 |
Super Bowl XXXIII |
1/31/1999 |
FOX |
40.2 |
| 41 |
World Series Game #6 |
10/21/1980 |
NBC |
40.0 |
| 42 |
Super Bowl V |
1/17/1971 |
NBC |
39.9 |
| 43 |
World Series Game #7 |
10/22/1975 |
NBC |
39.6 |
| 44 |
World Series Game #4 |
10/6/1963 |
NBC |
39.5 |
| 45 |
Super Bowl IV |
1/11/1970 |
CBS |
39.4 |
| 46 |
Super Bowl XXIV |
1/28/1990 |
CBS |
39.0 |
| 47 |
World Series Game #7 |
10/27/1986 |
NBC |
38.9 |
| 48 |
World Series Game #7 |
10/20/1982 |
NBC |
38.2 |
| 49 |
WBA Heavyweight Championship |
9/15/1978 |
ABC |
37.3 |
| 49 |
Heavyweight Boxing Championship |
9/29/1977 |
NBC |
37.3 |
Source: The Nielsen Company, January 1964 – February 2009
Note: Beginning 2006 estimates Live+SD. Prior to 2006 Live only.
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