The following is the list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States by average viewership, according to Nielsen. Of the 30 most-watched telecasts, 27 are Super Bowls. The Apollo 11 moon landing is considered the most watched broadcast of all time, with an estimated viewership of 125âÂÂ150 million. However, the Apollo 11 moon landing is considered a news event and not a telecast, as the major networks each produced their own coverage of the event; as a result, FOX's live telecast of Super Bowl LIX on February 9, 2025 holds the record for the largest average viewership of any live network American television broadcast, with 127.7 million viewers. Although not counted separately, the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show and Super Bowl LIX halftime show are indeed also estimated to have broken viewership records, with each watched by an estimated 133.5 million viewers.
The Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, is reported to have been watched by 125âÂÂ150 million people. This figure has not been substantiated by Nielsen Media Research, which has only published figures for the moon landing based on household viewership. Additionally, although not counted separately, the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in 1993 was considered as the most watched television broadcast of all time with 133.4 million viewers. This figure was surpassed in 2025 by the end of the second quarter and subsequent halftime show of Super Bowl LIX, with 135.7 and 133.5 million viewers over the two quarter-hour periods. In 2026, Super Bowl LX viewership peaked at 137.8 million viewers during the second quarter (7:45-8:00 p.m. ET), surpassing all previous figures in history.
The highest-rated broadcast of all time is the final episode of M*A*S*H in 1983, with 60.2% of all households with television sets in the United States at that time watching the episode. Aside from Super Bowls, the most recent broadcast to receive a rating above 40 was the Seinfeld finale in 1998, with a 41.3.
Nielsen only began recording a list of ratings for individual broadcasts starting in July 1960, therefore ratings before that time are not included in their official count.
The following is a timeline of the highest-rated television broadcasts since December 17, 1960.
The following is a list of the highest-rated television series by year.