14 Other Countries’ Most-Watched TV Broadcasts
Wikipedia’s List of Most-Watched Television Broadcasts is like a smorgasbord of unhealthy delights you didn’t know existed. You’ve been rotting your brain with reruns of The Office all this time, when you could have been binging decades of Kōhaku Uta Gassen and Melodifestivalen.
Canada
The 2010 Vancouver Olympics may have likely marked the most unified, patriotic moment in the country’s history. Canada’s five most-watched television events happened that year — the gold medal men’s hockey game was watched by half of the country. All-in, over 80 percent of the population tuned into the games.
China
If you can believe it, China is a bit cagey with the viewership statistics they publish. According to state media, the Spring Festival Gala garners the most views every year, regularly reaching over a billion people. That’s like Big Brother declaring that state-mandated morning calisthenics are the most-watched program in Oceania. Might be true, but it doesn’t actually tell you much.
Denmark
The Danish top 10 is predictably littered with Eurovisions and soccer tourneys. But the number one spot is taken by Krøniken, a drama about the exploits of Ida Nørregaard, a Jutland resident who travels to the big city (Copenhagen) and has to make the gut-wrenching choice between home economics and night school. Episode 10 drew in a record 2.7 million viewers.
France
FIFA had a stranglehold on the French top 10 until 2020, when President Emmanuel Macron suddenly shot up to the top of the pack. The three most-watched programs in French history were Macron giving updates on this crazy new virus called COVID-19.
Germany
The German list is, to no one’s surprise, the most orderly I’ve seen. Every single one of their top broadcasts is a FIFA or EUFA game. They have their eyes on the prize, and no telenovela or presidential address will have any statistical impact on the percent of the population with their eyes on a soccer ball at any given moment.
Italy
Some of these lists have lengthy explanations about how some data may be incomplete, or historical context about how calculations have changed over the decades. The Italy section has an impressive lack of context, showing a table with exactly one entry: 1987’s Madonna in Concerto. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds beautiful.
India
Case in point: The India section goes to great lengths to explain when and how the Television Rating Point standard has changed. Whatever the reason, the top two most-viewed programs are from the ‘80s. I like to think Ramayan (a 1987 series based on an ancient Sanskrit epic) and its 1989 sequel, Luv Kush, were the pinnacle of pop culture.
Ireland
The top six most-watched shows in Ireland’s history are special holiday episodes of The Late Late Show, the second-longest running late-night talk show in the world. The Late Late Toy Show is a yearly tradition where they show off the coolest toys of the year, and where Dustin the Turkey, a subversive, insulting turkey puppet who predates Triumph by a decade, roasts the host.
Japan
Japan also has a yearly holiday tradition that beats out every other program. Specifically, the 1963 episode of Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a New Year’s Eve singing competition that pits teams of the year’s best recording artists against each other, reached 81 percent of Japanese households.
Mexico
You’ve got your boxing matches, your Olympics, your concerts, of course the 2007 finale of the wildly popular telenovela La Fea Más Bella. Most notably, there’s also the funeral of the guy who created two wildly popular sitcoms, El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado. That’s like if Chuck Lorre’s funeral outperforms every episode of Young Sheldon.
Philippines
Eighty-three percent of Filipinos tuned in to watch hometown hero Manny Pacquiao kick Erik Morales’ ass in 2006. That’s followed by several telenovelas, a couple of Miss Universes in the ‘90s and a sketch comedy show called Bubble Gang.
South Korea
South Korea respects good old fashioned storytelling. No sports, no singing competitions, their top 10 is filled to the brim with pure, uncut melodrama. The number one broadcast, the finale of First Love, was watched by 65 percent of the country, but the show reached over 50 percent of South Koreans every episode throughout its run.
Sweden
Their annual Melodifestivalen is a singing competition that serves as a qualifier for Eurovision — and the Swedes do not fuck around when it comes to Eurovision. Melodifestivalen has taken the top spot almost every year since 2000. There were a couple of outliers, when a weird little Christmas special from 1958, Kalle Anka Och Hans Vänner Önskar God Jul, beat it out.
United States
It’s mostly Super Bowls all the way down. We’re not good enough at soccer for FIFA or the Olympics to have a shot at making this list, but we’ve got a real ringer at number 1: the Apollo 11 Moon landing. I don’t see Sweden planting its flag on a god’s face in between Melodifestivalens. This is American exceptionalism manifest.
