Back in the day, there were few options for what to watch on a Friday night. There were just a couple of channels available on that hefty old box with the cable ears we used to call a TV. Hence, today, with the abundance of streaming services, TV channels, and social media platforms that divide society's attention, it's getting increasingly harder to beat prior records set by most watched TV events. Still, quite a few occasions in recent years made it among the most watched events on TV.
Indeed the most watched TV event list is dominated by the biggest sporting events in the world that happen less than annually, like the World Cup and the Olympics. Yet, many news events are also among the most watched events in TV history. Unfortunately, when it comes to news, bad news dominates the headlines. Thus, many of the biggest historical events broadcast on TV were, in fact, memorial services. Queen Elizabeth II's final farewell was the most recent and most prominent one. In fact, according to the media, with an estimated figure of 5.1 billion, the Queen's funeral became the most-watched TV event in history.
Unfortunately, that's the case with every other most-watched event on TV — there's likely a not-too-happy reasoning behind it. Still, plenty of occasions worth celebrating, such as nuptials, concerts, charity events, and legendary matches, also make up the list. Below, all in one place, we collected the biggest events in history that drew millions, even billions, of spectators worldwide. Do you remember watching any of them live? Let us know, and share your experience!
#1 Queen Elizabeth II Funeral: 5.1 Billion Viewers
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19 was the first British monarch service to be broadcast on television. It was estimated that more than 5 billion people watched the historic occurrence.
52points
#2 Funeral Of Lady Diana: 2 Billion Viewers
Only three people, Lady Diana, Zinedine Zidane, and Muhammad Ali, have been featured on this list more than once. Unfortunately for Diana, her second occasion was her funeral, which was held on September 6, 1997.
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47points
#3 Sept. 11 Terror Attacks: 2 Billion Viewers
Many can still clearly recall where they were on Tuesday morning when the first bits of news began to circulate. Media coverage started when American Airlines Flight 11 collided with the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 in the morning. Three more planes crashed in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania within an hour and fifteen minutes. The deadliest terrorist attack in human history was broadcast to a global audience of two billion people.
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43points
#4 1996 Atlanta Olympics Opening Ceremony: 3.6 Billion Viewers
Muhammad Ali was the highlight of the Opening Ceremony of the Atlanta Summer Olympics on July 19, 1996. The legendary boxer, whose name became synonymous with the phrase “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” lit the Olympic flame while in a heavy battle with Parkinson’s disease. Many will never forget this extraordinary, surprising, and gasp-inducing historical moment.
39points
#5 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony: 3 Billion Viewers
It’s no coincidence that the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony occurred on August 8, 2008 (8/8/08), as the number 8 is considered the luckiest of numbers in China. On that particular day, 15,000 performers put on an incredible performance. In addition to appearing to be walking on a cloud while lighting the torch, the Chinese also made the clouds outside the Beijing National Stadium disappear. They literally changed the weather, so there was no rain throughout the event.
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37points
#6 Live Aid: 1.9 Billion Viewers
The Live Aid concert, held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia on July 13, 1985, attracted nearly 2 billion spectators. The shows attracted viewers from 150 nations and prompted simultaneous concerts in other countries.
36points
#7 2002 World Cup Final, Brazil vs. Germany: 2 Billion Viewers
The 2002 World Cup Final featured the battle between Brazil and Germany. Oddly enough, it was their first time facing off in the Finals despite at least one of these teams appearing in all but five of the 18 Finals since WWII.
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34points
#8 Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks II: 2 Billion Viewers
This was the last fight of Ali’s career, ranking amongst the most-viewed TV events in history. After just eight professional fights, Spinks won the title of Undisputed Heavyweight Champion. He was the only man ever to take a world title away from Ali in the ring.
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31points
#9 Live 8: 2 Billion Viewers
A charity event was organized on the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. To raise money to end poverty worldwide, the G8 countries and South Africa performed simultaneous concerts on July 2, 2005. The "Make Poverty History" campaign aimed to raise $50 billion for aid to developing countries, with half of that amount going to Africa. Unfortunately, the G8 nations' promise of that goal mostly fell short.
29points
#10 ‘The Wall: Live In Berlin’: 1 Billion Viewers
In a July 1989 interview, Roger Waters stated that he would only perform The Wall live once more "if the Berlin Wall came down." Four months later, it did. On July 21, 1990, Pink Floyd performed a rock extravaganza just eight months after the Berlin Wall came down, allowing East and West Germans to freely cross to the other's side.
29points
#11 Michael Jackson Memorial Service: 2 Billion Viewers
Regarding the number of TV spectators, the King of Pop triumphed over the King of Rock. Still, Michael Jackson would have probably chosen to defeat Elvis with a music battle rather than his memorial. Two billion people tuned in to watch the tribute being paid to Jackson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on July 7, 2009.
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28points
#12 1998 World Cup Final, France vs. Brazil: 2 Billion Viewers
On July 12, 1998, almost eight years before the infamous headbutt, Zidane was nothing short of extraordinary, scoring two goals to lead France to a 3-0 victory and its first World Cup title.
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26points
#13 Prince Charles And Lady Diana Spencer Wedding: 1 Billion Viewers
The "wedding of the century" at the time was Prince Charles and Lady Diana's "fairytale" nuptials which took place on July 29, 1981. That day, Lady Diana transformed from the assistant to a nursery teacher to the Princess of Wales and the mother of the future King of England.
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26points
#14 Apollo 11 Moon Landing: 600 Million Viewers
There were 3.61 billion people on Earth when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon at 8:17 p.m. UTC on July 20, 1969. 600 million of them tuned in to see Armstrong take his first steps on the moon, making up an incredible 1/6 of all humanity.
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21points
#15 Ali vs. Larry Holmes, ‘The Last Hurrah’: 2 Billion Viewers
On October 2, 1980, Ali entered the ring to face Larry Holmes, the WBC Heavyweight Champion. At Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, he stood toe-to-toe against Holmes in a ten-round battle before his manager stopped it.
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20points
#16 Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Wedding: 1.9 Billion Viewers
Approximately one in four people watched the most recent Royal Wedding, which took place on May 19, 2018. As is custom, Prince Harry received his official peerages, or titles, before the wedding.
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19points
#17 1984 L.A. Olympics Opening Ceremony: 180 million
On July 28, 1984, in Los Angeles, the opening ceremony included one of the most lavish productions in Olympic history. President Ronald Reagan welcomed the world and signaled the beginning of the games as almost 100,000 spectators crammed into the Los Angeles Coliseum to watch.
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19points
#18 Chilean Miners Rescue: 1 Billion Viewers
A ramp that was 2,300 feet underground in the Chilean Copiapo goldmine collapsed on August 5, 2010, trapping 33 miners. The population of Chile and the rest of the world questioned whether there were any survivors. Then, on August 22, a note saying, "We are fine in the shelter, the 33 of us," was found. Despite increased rescue efforts, the miners were imprisoned for nearly two more months. On October 13, the 33 miners were extracted from the ground one by one as a billion people paused to watch coverage of the 23-hour rescue.
18points
#19 Ali vs. Antonio Inoki: 1.4 Billion Viewers
Arguably the oddest battle Ali ever took on is this one. Yet, it is significant because it is regarded as the first mixed martial arts match to ever take place on a global scale. Antonio Inoki was a Japanese wrestler fixed on conquering champions with other fighting disciplines to advance his own fighting style. Until a few days before the fight, Ali believed he was participating in a carefully staged fight. However, the fictitious match turned into a real one when he refused.
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16points
#20 2010 World Cup Final, Spain vs. Netherlands: 1 Billion Viewers
For the first time in 32 years, neither Brazil nor Germany was present in the 2010 World Cup Final. The Netherlands accumulated nine yellow cards and a red card, compared to Spain's five, making it the tournament's dirtiest game. Four minutes later, the game was over, and Spain had won their first and, so far, only World Cup.
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15points