List of longest-running television shows by category
This is a list of the 25 longest-running television shows by category. The criterion for being the longest-running show is by the number of years the show has been on the air and not the number of episodes produced.
The Brazilian show Programa Silvio Santos is the longest-running television show of all time hosted by the same person.
Rank | Years | Category | Show name | Country | Duration | Channel/Network | hideEpisodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 77 | Sports outside broadcast | The Championships, Wimbledon[1] | ![]() |
1937,[2] 1939, 1946–present | BBC Television Service, BBC One/Two | |
2 | 76 | Outside broadcast | Lord Mayor's Show | ![]() |
1937–1938, 1946–present (not broadcast during WW2 1939–1945)[3] | BBC Television Service, BBC One | |
3 | 74 | News show | Meet the Press | ![]() |
1947–present | NBC | 4,946+ |
4 | 73 | Newscast | CBS Evening News | ![]() |
1948–present | CBS | 16,400+ |
5 | 72 | Soap opera | Guiding Light | ![]() |
1937-2009 | NBC(1937-1946) CBS Radio(1946-1956) CBS(1952-2009) | 18,262 |
Religious program | Le Jour du Seigneur | ![]() |
1949–present | TF1 (1949-87) France 2 (since 1987) |
|||
6 | 69 | Sports show | Hockey Night in Canada | ![]() |
1952–present | CBC, City/Sportsnet, CTV | |
7 | 68 | Sports magazine show | ![]() |
1953–present | RAI | 3318 (as of 10 May 2020) | |
Music talent show | NHK Nodo Jiman | ![]() |
1953–present | NHK | 2,900 (as of 2012) | ||
Current affairs series | Panorama | ![]() |
1953–present | BBC One | |||
8 | 67 | Talk show | The Tonight Show | ![]() |
1954–present | ||
9 | 66 | Song contest | Sanremo Music Festival | ![]() |
1955–present | RAI (radio broadcast since 1951, tv broadcast since 1955) | |
Annual live international beauty pageant | Miss Universe | ![]() |
1955–present | CBS, NBC, FOX | 64 | ||
Annual live national beauty pageant | Miss America | ![]() |
1955–present | ABC, CBS, NBC | 63 | ||
10 | 64 | Science show | The Sky at Night | ![]() |
1957–present | BBC One, BBC Four | 804 (as of September 2020) |
Cooking show | Today's Cooking | ![]() |
1957–present | NHK | |||
11 | 63 | Historical drama | Zenigata Heiji | ![]() |
1958–present | ||
Children's show | Blue Peter | ![]() |
1958–present | BBC One, CBBC | 5,000 (as of 1 February 2018) | ||
12 | 62 | Animated | Sandmännchen | ![]() |
1959–present | Deutscher Fernsehfunk | 22,200 |
13 | 61 | Soap opera | Coronation Street | ![]() |
1960–present | ITV | 10000+ |
14 | 60 | Comedy | KVN | ![]() |
1961–present | Channel One Russia, KVN TV | |
TV feedback show | Points of View | ![]() |
1961–present | BBC One, BBC Two | |||
Quiz show | It's Academic | ![]() |
1961–present[4] | ||||
15 | 59 | Medicine talk show | Trupi dhe Shëndeti | ![]() |
1962–present | RTSH | 1000+ |
Variety show | Sábado Gigante | ![]() ![]() |
1962–1986; Univision: 1986–2015 | Canal 13 | 2,800+ | ||
16 | 58 | Variety Show | Programa Silvio Santos | ![]() |
1963–present | SBT | 3000+ |
17 | 57 | Music chart show | Top of the Pops | ![]() |
1964–2006; Christmas shows only 2006–present | BBC One, BBC Two | 2,219 |
18 | 56 | Documentary | Teleenciclopedia | ![]() |
1965–present | TVR1 | 2500+ |
Game show | Des chiffres et des lettres | ![]() |
1965–present | France 2 (1965-2006) France 3 (since 2006) |
20,000 (as of October 2012) | ||
19 | 55 | Agriculture Information | Country Calendar | ![]() |
1966–present [5] | TVNZ 1 | 1,100+ |
Children’s show (preschool) | Play School | ![]() |
1966–present | Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) | 4,500+ | ||
20 | 54 | Agriculture Information | Krishi Darshan[6] | ![]() |
1967-present | DD National DD Kisan |
16,780+ |
21 | 52 | Anime for kids | Sazae-san | ![]() |
1969–present | Fuji Television | 2,500+[7] |
22 | 51 | Police procedural | Tatort | ![]() |
1970–present | Das Erste | 1,136 (as of 6 September 2020)[8] |
23 | 49 | Sketch comedy show | Sábados Felices | ![]() |
1972–present | ||
Charity show | The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon | ![]() |
1966–2014 | Various | 48 | ||
Sports variety | Grandstand | ![]() |
1958–2007 | BBC One, BBC Two | 3500 | ||
24 | 47 | Film review | Film | ![]() |
1971–2018 | BBC One | |
25 | 45 | Satire | Extra 3 | ![]() |
1976–present | Das Erste |
See also[]
- List of longest-running United States television series
- List of longest-running UK television programmes
- List of longest-running Australian television series
- List of longest-running Philippine television series
- List of longest-running U.S. cable television series
- List of longest-running U.S. primetime television series
- List of longest-running U.S. first-run syndicated television series
- List of television series canceled after one episode
- List of television programs by episode count
References[]
- ^ "Wimbledon". Genome Project. 9 October 2018.
- ^ "Wimbledon and the BBC 1927 to 2017". History of the BBC. 22 November 2018.
- ^ "The Lord Mayor's Show dates". BBC Genome. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- ^ "Mac McGarry, 'It's Academic' host, dies at 87". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
- ^ "1966 – key events – The 1960s | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
- ^ "Doordarshan turns 60: Here is a nostalgic look at the broadcaster's milestones". The Economic Times.
- ^ http://www.filmweb.pl/serial/Sazae-san-1969-502304/episodes
- ^ "Die Fälle – Tatort – ARD | Das Erste".
Categories:
- Lists of television series
- Entertainment-related lists of superlatives
- Lists of longest-running television shows