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ALL-TIME TELEVISION RANKINGS
ALL-TIME TOP 30 SHOWS ON TV
RANKED BY PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION VIEWING
Excluding Sports Coverage (3 hours plus)
| RANK | DATE | SHOW/EPISODE | RATING | SHARE | TV HOMES | ESTIMATED | % OF U.S. POP AT TIME | | | | | (per Nielsen Media Research) | TV VIEWERS | (per U.S. Census Bureau) | | 01 | 02/28/83 | M*A*S*H (150 min. finale movie) | 60.2 | 77 | 50,150,000 | 105,970,000 | 46.95% |
| 02 | 02/09/64 | Ed Sullivan - Beatles' 1st | 45.3 | 60 | 23,240,000 | 73,000,000 | 40.56% |
| 03 | 02/16/64 | Ed Sullivan - Beatles' 2nd | 43.8 | 60 | 22,445,000 | 70,701,000 | 39.29% |
| 04 | 11/21/80 | Dallas ("Who Shot J.R.?") | 53.3 | 76 | 41,470,000 | 83,064,000 | 37.78% |
| 05 | 05/20/93 | Cheers (100 min. finale special) | 45.5 | 64 | 42,360,500 | 93,050,000 | 37.45% |
| 06 | 02/23/64 | Ed Sullivan - Beatles' 3rd | 38.9 | 56 | 19,960,000 | 59,280,000 | 33.27% |
| 07 | 01/30/77 | Roots (mini-series - 2 hrs finale) | 51.1 | 71 | 36,380,000 | 69,122,000 | 32.29% |
| 08 | 11/20/83 | The Day After (145 min. TV movie) | 46.0 | 62 | 38,550,000 | 69,984,000 | 31.00% |
| 09 | 11/07/76 | Gone With the Wind (TV premiere) | 47.7 | 65 | 33,960,000 | 64,524,000 | 30.45% |
| 10 | 11/08/76 | Gone with the Wind (Part 2) | 47.4 | 64 | 33,750,000 | 64,125,000 | 30.27% |
| 11 | 01/28/77 | Roots (Part 6) | 45.9 | 66 | 32,680,000 | 62,092,000 | 29.00% |
| 12 | 01/27/77 | Roots (Part 5) | 45.7 | 71 | 32,540,000 | 61,826,000 | 28.85% |
| 13 | 03/29/83 | The Thorn Birds (Part 3) | 43.2 | 62 | 35,990,000 | 64,782,000 | 28.70% |
| 14 | 03/30/83 | The Thorn Birds (Part 4 180 min.) | 43.1 | 62 | 35,900,000 | 64,620,000 | 28.63% |
| 15 | 01/25/77 | Roots (Part 3) | 44.8 | 68 | 31,900,000 | 60,610,000 | 28.31% |
| 16 | 03/28/83 | The Thorn Birds (Part 2) | 42.5 | 59 | 35,400,000 | 63,720,000 | 28.23% |
| 17 | 01/24/77 | Roots (Part 2) | 44.1 | 62 | 31,400,000 | 59,660,000 | 27.87% |
| 18 | 01/22/87 | Cosby (episode) | 41.3 | 56 | 36,100,000 | 64,980,000 | 27.76% |
| 19 | 01/26/77 | Roots (Part 4) | 43.8 | 66 | 31,190,000 | 59,261,000 | 27.68% |
| 20 | 02/13/83 | The Winds of War (Part 7.177 min) | 41.0 | 56 | 34,150,000 | 61,470,000 | 27.23% |
| 21 | 08/29/67 | The Fugitive (Final episode) | 45.9 | 72 | 25,700,000 | 51,400,000 | 27.05% |
| 22 | 02/07/83 | The Winds of War (Part 2 170 min) | 40.2 | 54 | 33,490,000 | 60,282,000 | 26.70% |
| 23 | 09/12/65 | Ed Sullivan - Beatles' 4th | 31.0 | 50 | 16,650,000 | 47,452,000 | 26.37% |
| 24 | 05/14/98 | Seinfeld (Series Finale) | 40.1 | 58 | 40,510,000 | 68,867,000 | 26.34% |
| 25 | 11/11/73 | Airport (TV premiere) | 42.3 | 63 | 28,000,000 | 53,200,000 | 25.93% |
| 26 | 10/01/72 | Love Story (TV premiere) | 42.3 | 62 | 27,410,000 | 52,079,000 | 25.69% |
| 27 | 01/14/71 | Bob Hope Christmas Special | 45.0 | 61 | 27,050,000 | 51,395,000 | 25.65% |
| 28 | 01/23/77 | Roots (Part 1) | 40.5 | 61 | 28,840,000 | 54,796,000 | 25.60% |
| 29 | 11/09/80 | Dallas (episode) | 40.0 | 59 | 31,120,000 | 56,016,000 | 25.47% |
| 30 | 02/10/93 | Oprah - Michael Jackson | 39.3 | 56 | 36,590,000 | 62,203,000 | 25.03% |
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