Surprising record-breaker: The most-watched TV broadcast ever (And no, it wasn’t a Super Bowl)

The biggest draw of this weekend’s television offerings will surely be Super Bowl LIX. Ratings for the NFL title game broadcast have always been high and despite dipping under the 100 million viewers mark a couple of times this millennium, the numbers are growing every year.

An average audience of 114.21 million viewers in the US tuned in to watch Super Bowl LVII with ratings rising to 123.4 million viewers last year’s game between the Chiefs and the 49ers.

So where does the Super Bowl stand in the most-viewed programs of all-time? NFL title game broadcasts occupy nine of the top 10 most viewed shows of all-time in the United States.

Super Bowl LVIII: the most viewed

Super Bowl LVIII, aired live by CBS in February 2024, drew the second biggest audience of all-time in the US - it also attracted an additional 40 million viewers following syndicated television coverage in other countries.

The Apollo 11 landing shatters television audience record

But the most watched television broadcast in history occurred over five decades ago on 20 July 1969 when over 150 million people, almost three quarters of the population, eagerly turned on their TV sets to follow the Apollo 11 mission.

The historic moment when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on the moon was broadcast live by CBS with legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite providing captivating commentary.

NASA’s Eagle lunar module touched down at 4:17 p.m. EDT. For obvious technical limitations, CBS showed a simulation of the landing in real-time, accompanied by the audio feed from the control room at NASA in Houston, rather than the actual landing (there were no video cameras on the moon).

Shortly before 11 p.m, Armstrong descended from the lunar lander to become the first man to set foot on the moon. “Look at those pictures, wow!” Cronkite exclaimed.

An estimated global audience of 650 million people watched the seminal event from Earth. It remains the most-watched TV program of all time.

While nine Super Bowls follow in the ranking, other events which had viewers glued to their screens include President Nixon delivering his resignation speech in August 1974 (110 million) and O.J. Simpson’s infamous police chase which unfolded live on Larry King’s news broadcast on June 17, 1994 - an audience of 95 million tuned in to watch the dramatic pursuit on Interstate 5 in Santa Ana.

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