The invention of the television brought entertainment to the homes of millions around the world in an instant. The world of home entertainment has come a long way since then. According to media research houses, the most watched television broadcasts now tend to be franchised reality TV programs and international sports gatherings that are telecast in numerous countries around the world. From 2010 onwards, nearly all the major sports events as well as renowned TV programs are aired live via satellite across the world, in 7 continents.
The advent of web streaming services like Netflix and Amazon has added another dimension to broadcasting. These services thrived during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, as they offered consumers to stream in whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and however wanted.
One of the first widely viewed TV broadcasts occurred on July 20, 1969. This was the day when the Apollo 11 Moon landing had a live broadcast across the world. It is estimated that more than 650 million people watched the event live, even when they lived in different time zones. It was past midnight in many European countries when they watched the event live on TV.
In most cases, sporting events have always topped the list of television broadcasts with the highest viewership. The fights of boxing legend Muhammad Ali garnered some of the biggest global TV audiences from the 1970s to the early 1980s. Some of his fights like the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” match against George Foreman; the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila” bout against Joe Frazier; and the 1980 “Last Hurrah” duel against Larry Holmes got a worldwide television audience 1 to 2 billion viewers. Also, the torch-lighting opening ceremony by Ali at the 1996 Summer Olympics was seen on TV by almost 3.5 billion people worldwide. Even in death, the live broadcast of his memorial service on June 9, 2016, was watched by 1 billion people.
The record for the largest audience for any sports event was set by the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The 16-day fiesta attracted a daily viewership of nearly 600 million people, and a total audience of 3.5 billion viewers. On average, the FIFA World Cup of 2010 and 2014 garnered an audience of 3.2 billion people, thereby making it the most-watched (by average) overall live coverage on TV worldwide. Even the 2015 Cricket World Cup got a global audience of about 2.2 billion viewers, with the India-Pakistan match garnering an audience of more than 1 billion people.
Broadcasts of major events about the British Royal Family also garner a huge worldwide audience. The 1997 broadcast of the royal funeral of Princess Diana who had died in a car crash in Paris had a worldwide viewership of nearly 2 billion people. The royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 had an audience of 1.9 billion people; while the royal weddings of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011 was viewed by around 1 billion people around the world.
Live television broadcasts of musical concerts, especially fundraising concerts, have also garnered huge global audiences. The first ‘Live Aid’ benefit concert held to collect funds for Ethiopian famine relief and telecast on July 13, 1985 was watched across the world by an estimated 1.9 billion people. The 1990 ‘The Wall – Live’ concert in Berlin by Roger Waters to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall had a live audience of 450,0000 and a worldwide TV audience of 500 million to 1 billion people. Many may not be aware about this, but the “Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite” concert aired in 1973 had an estimated worldwide viewership of 1.5 billion people. The ‘Live 8’ concert of July 2005 was watched by 2 billion people across the globe.
Television shows from the US have topped the audience count over decades. But after the turn of the century, shows from Asia, Latin America, and Europe have also gained prominence. Telenovelas from Latin America and the Eurovision Song Contest have had millions of people watching it every year. Idols, which has been airing since 2001 and telecast in more than 150 countries has till now had an audience of nearly 3.3 billion viewers. ‘Satyamev Jayate: Season 1’, a talk show from India, aired between 6 and 27 May 2012 and attracted an audience of over 1 billion viewers.
Other major events that have attracted huge TV broadcast audience numbers include the 2010–2011 coverage of the New Year’s Eve at Sydney which had an audience of over 1.1 billion; the 2009 First inauguration of President Barack Obama, which was viewed by over 1 billion; the ghastly September 11 terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001 was watched by over 2 billion; and the July 7, 2009, Memorial service of Michael Jackson memorial was watched by 2 billion people.
After the above discussed information on the most watched TV broadcasts, presented below is a top 5 list of the most viewed television broadcasts in the world.
The position goes to the two famous sporting events, the London 2012 Summer Olympics and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. They were telecast from 27 July 2012 to 12 August 2012 and from 5 August 2016 to 21 August 2016, respectively. Both had an estimated worldwide audience of around 3.6 billion viewers.
2. The 2018 FIFA World Cup
Held in Russia, the rousing football event was telecast from 14 June 2018 to 15 July 2018 and was watched by around 3.572 billion people.
3. Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics
It was aired from 8 August 2008 to 24 August 2008. The gala event watched by 3.51 billion viewers around the world.
4. The Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, and the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics.
The grand Olympics events were respectively telecast from 8 August 2008 to 24 August 2008, from 19 July 1996 to 4 August 1996, and from 15 September 2000 to 1 October 2000. Each event had an estimated audience of 3.5 billion people.
5. The 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France.
The spectacular football fiesta was telecast from 10 June 1998 to 12 July 1998 and was watched by a worldwide audience of 3.4 billion people.
