Because many events are watched simultaneously around the world and recorded programs are exported to multiple countries, it is difficult to collate reliable figures for global audiences.
[6] Other broadcasts frequently claimed to have broken records include news events such as the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing,[7][8] funerals of significant figures such as Michael Jackson,[9] Diana, Princess of Wales,[10][11] or Elizabeth II, and music events such as the 1985 Live Aid benefit concert [12] and 1993 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
[13][14][15] 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.
[36] China Central Television's Spring Festival Gala has regularly attracted between 700 million[37] to 1.17 billion viewers annually.
[41][42] A Chinese boxer Zou Shiming's professional boxing debut on 6 April 2013 generated an estimated 300 million viewers.
[43][44][45] Another professional boxer Qiu Xiaojun attracted around 200 million people for his fight against Ghanaian fighter Raymond Commey on 12 February 2016.
[48] Note: The UEFA Euro 2008 final is missing from the list, because the lengthy trophy presentation was included into the official ratings.
In the 2000s, the most watched show in India was Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (2000–2008) which garnered double digit ratings for 6 years on StarPlus.
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.
[68] A list of most-watched shows in the Mexico, Televisa and TV Azteca broadcasters (Liga MX Apertura and Clausura), Boxing, 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, (FIFA World Cup hosts 1970 & 1986), some concerts like Maná's Unidos por La Paz at Estadio Azteca in March 2001; in 2007, the last episode of La Fea Más Bella", Funeral events like Chespirito in December 2014 the creator of TV Series El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado, and Celebration of Mexican political anniversaries in 2010 celebrate independence from Spain also called Bicentenario 2010, had an average audience of over 40 million views in Mexican Television.
[94] Statistics from Mediamätning Skandinavien[95] Although the Apollo 11 Moon landing is considered as the most watched television event in American history, it is considered a news event, meaning that CBS's live telecast of Super Bowl LVIII in 2024 holds the record for the largest average viewership of any live network U.S. television broadcast, with 123.7 million viewers.
[98] Super Bowl XLV's live broadcast in February 2011 helped Fox become the first 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.
[100] Fox's live telecast of Super Bowl LI in 2017 currently holds the largest total viewership (those who watched any part of the broadcast) in U.S. television history, with 172 million viewers.