Top 20 most watched events of all time

Since the advent of the television age, certain events have brought people together like none other. Most reality television franchise broadcasts and international sporting events (which are aired in several countries) tend to comprise some of the most-watched television programs. The majority of the world’s most-watched television broadcasts, including all of the world’s major international sporting events, are often broadcast live via satellite across virtually all of the world’s time zones in seven continents.

Here are the top 20 most watched events in history.

Rank	Event	Viewers
1.	Queen Elizabeth II funeral	4.1 billion
2.	1996 Atlanta Olympics opening ceremony	3.6 billion
3.	2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony	3 billion
4.	2002 World Cup Final, Brazil vs. Germany	2 billion
5.	Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks II	2 billion
6.	Princess Diana funeral	2 billion
7.	1998 World Cup Final, France vs. Brazil	2 billion
8.	September 11 terror attacks	2 billion
9.	Live 8	2 billion
10.	Michael Jackson memorial service	2 billion
11.	Muhammad Ali vs. Larry Holmes, “The Last Hurrah”	2 billion
12.	Live Aid	1.9 billion
13.	Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wedding	1.9 billion
14.	1984 L.A. Olympics opening ceremony	1.5 billion
15.	Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki	1.4 billion
16.	2010 World Cup Final, Spain vs. Netherlands	1 billion
17.	Muhammad Ali vs. Frazier III, “Thrilla in Manila”	1 billion
18.	‘The Wall: Live in Berlin’	1 billion
19.	2006 World Cup Final, France vs. Italy	1 billion
20.	Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer wedding	1 billion
	2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, India vs. Pakistan	1 billion
	Muhammad Ali vs. Foreman, “The Rumble in the Jungle”	1 billion
	Muhammad Ali memorial service	1 billion
	2018 World Cup Final, France vs. Croatia	1 billion
	Chilean miners rescue	1 billion
	“Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite”	1 billion

Tags: Events