Wikipedia
List of longest-running television shows by category
This is a list of the 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 | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 79 | Outside broadcast | Lord Mayor's Show | United Kingdom | 1937–1938, 1946–present (not broadcast during WW2 1939–1945)[1] | BBC Television Service, BBC One | |
| 2 | 77 | Sports outside broadcast | The Championships, Wimbledon[2] | United Kingdom | 1937,[3] 1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present (not played during World War II, or in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns) | BBC Television Service, BBC One/Two | |
| 3 | 74 | News show | Meet the Press | United States | 1947–present | NBC | 4,946+ |
| 4 | 73 | Newscast | CBS Evening News | United States | 1948–present | CBS | 16,400+ |
| 5 | 73 | Religious program | Le Jour du Seigneur | France | 1949–present | TF1 (1949–87) France 2 (since 1987) | |
| 6 | 71 | Religious program | Minuto de Dios | Colombia | 1950–present | Canal RCN, Caracol Televisión, Canal 1, Canal Institucional, Señal Colombia, Canal Capital, Canal Trece, Citytv | 17,000+ |
| 7 | 69 | Sports show | Hockey Night in Canada | Canada | 1952–present | CBC, City/Sportsnet, CTV | |
| 8 | 68 | Sports magazine show | La Domenica Sportiva | Italy | 1953–present | RAI | 3318 (as of 10 May 2020[update]) |
| Music talent show | NHK Nodo Jiman | Japan | 1953–present | NHK | 2,900 (as of 2012[update]) | ||
| Current affairs series | Panorama | United Kingdom | 1953–present | BBC One | |||
| 9 | 67 | Talk show | The Tonight Show | United States | 1954–present | NBC | |
| 10 | 66 | Song contest | Sanremo Music Festival | Italy | 1955–present | RAI (radio broadcast since 1951, TV broadcast since 1955) | |
| Annual live international beauty pageant | Miss Universe | United States | 1955–present | CBS, NBC, FOX | 64 | ||
| Annual live national beauty pageant | Miss America | United States | 1955–present | ABC, NBC, CBS | 63 | ||
| 11 | 64 | Song competition | Eurovision Song Contest | Various participating countries | 1956–present | European Broadcasting Union | The most recent contest (2022) is hosted in Turin, Italy. |
| 12 | 65 | Science show | The Sky at Night | United Kingdom | 1957–present | BBC One, BBC Four | 804 (as of September 2020[update]) |
| News show | Telediario | Spain | 1957–present | TVE | |||
| 13 | 63 | Historical drama | Zenigata Heiji | Japan | 1958–2005 | ||
| Agriculture information | Plodovi zemlje | Croatia | 1958–present | HRT 1 | 1900 (as of 1 March 2017) | ||
| Children's show | Blue Peter | United Kingdom | 1958–present | BBC One, CBBC | 5,000 (as of 1 February 2018[update]) | ||
| 14 | 62 | Animated | Sandmännchen | Germany | 1959–present | Deutscher Fernsehfunk | 22,200 |
| News show | Telejornal | Portugal | 1959–present | RTP 1 | |||
| 15 | 61 | Soap opera | Coronation Street | United Kingdom | 1960–present | ITV | 10000+ |
| 16 | 60 | Comedy | KVN | Soviet Union (1961-1991) Russia (1991-present) | 1961–present | Channel One Russia, KVN TV | |
| TV feedback show | Points of View | United Kingdom | 1961–present | BBC One, BBC Two | |||
| Quiz show | It's Academic | United States | 1961–present[4] | ||||
| 16 | 60 | Song contest | Festivali i Këngës | Albania | 1962–present | RTSH | |
| 17 | 60 | Medicine talk show | Trupi dhe Shëndeti | Albania | 1962–present | RTSH | 1000+ |
| 18 | 60 | Variety show | Sábado Gigante | Chile United States | 1962–1986; Univision 1986–2015 | Canal 13 | 2,800+ |
| 19 | 58 | Sci-fi | Doctor Who | United Kingdom | 1963–present | BBC One | 694 |
| Variety show | Programa Silvio Santos | Brazil | 1963–present | SBT | 3000+ | ||
| 20 | 59 | Music chart show | Top of the Pops | United Kingdom | 1964–2006; Christmas shows only 2006–present | BBC One, BBC Two | 2,219 |
| Documentary | Four Corners | Australia | 1961–present | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | |||
| 21 | 56 | Game show | Des chiffres et des lettres | France | 1965–present | France 2 (1965-2006) France 3 (since 2006) | 20,000 (as of October 2012[update]) |
| 22 | 55 | Agriculture information | Country Calendar | New Zealand | 1966–present[5] | TVNZ 1 | 1,100+ |
| Children's show (preschool) | Play School | Australia | 1966–present | Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) | 4,500+ | ||
| Comedy special | Áramótaskaupið | Iceland | 1966–present | Ríkisútvarpið | 56 | ||
| 23 | 54 | Agriculture information | Krishi Darshan | India | 1967–present[6] | DD National DD Kisan | 16,780+ |
| 24 | 53 | Anime for kids | Sazae-san | Japan | 1969–present | Fuji Television | 2,500+[7] |
| Kids Educational | Sesame Street | America | 1969-present | NET (1969-1970), PBS (1970-), HBO (2016-2020), HBO Max (2020-) | 4000+ | ||
| 25 | 52 | Police procedural | Tatort | Germany | 1970–present | Das Erste | 1,136 (as of 6 September 2020[update])[8] |
| 26 | 50 | Sketch comedy show | Sábados Felices | Colombia | 1972–present | Segunda Cadena/Cadena Dos(1972-1976,1987-1991,1998) Primera Cadena/Cadena Uno (1977-1983,1984-1987, 1992-1997) Canal Caracol/Caracol Televisión (1998–present) | 2,900+ |
| 27 | 49 | Charity show | The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon | United States | 1966–2014 | Various | 48 |
| Sports variety | Grandstand | United Kingdom | 1958–2007 | BBC One, BBC Two | 3500 | ||
| 28 | 47 | Film review | Film | United Kingdom | 1971–2018 | BBC One | |
| 29 | 45 | Political satire | Extra 3 | Germany | 1976–present | Das Erste | |
| Automotive | Top Gear (relaunched in 2002) | United Kingdom | 1976–2001, 2002-present | BBC Two, BBC One | |||
| 30 | 43 | Science fiction | Doctor Who | United Kingdom | 1963–1989, 1996,[9] 2005–present | BBC One | 871 (as of 23 October 2022) |
| 31 | 38 | Glove puppetry show | Pili | Taiwan | 1984–present[10] | Pili TV | 2,000+ |
| 32 | 37 | Sitcom | Last of the Summer Wine | United Kingdom | 1973–2010 | BBC One | 295 |
| 33 | 35 | Music video show | Rage | Australia | 1986–present | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | |
| 34 | 34 | Comedy drama | Kopi kade | Sri Lanka | 1987–present | ITN | 1,900+ |
| 35 | 33 | Reality show | America's Funniest Home Videos | United States | 1989–present | American Broadcasting Company | |
| 36 | 33 | Adult animation | The Simpsons | United States | 1989 -present | Fox Broadcasting Company | 700+ |
See also
- List of longest-running American television series
- List of longest-running British television programmes
- List of longest-running Australian television series
- List of longest-running Philippine television series
- List of longest-running American cable television series
- List of longest-running American primetime television series
- List of longest-running American first-run syndicated television series
- List of television series canceled after one episode
- List of television programs by episode count
References
- ^ "The Lord Mayor's Show dates". BBC Genome. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
- ^ "Wimbledon". Genome Project. 9 October 2018.
- ^ "Wimbledon and the BBC 1927 to 2017". History of the BBC. 22 November 2018.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Gupta, Mohak (15 September 2017). "Nostalgia darshan: Doordarshan turns 58 making us look back at Krishi Darshan, Hum Log, Fauji". India Today. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Sazae-san".
- ^ "Die Fälle – Tatort – ARD | Das Erste".
- ^ . web.archive.org. 2015-05-05. Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ^ "Pili Glove Puppetry". Taiwan Ministry of Culture. 2017-01-03.