Observing one-offs...

I was interested to read [Yahoo!] that "the New York Giants thrilling win over the New England Patriots was the most-watched Super Bowl ever, with 97.5 million viewers, Nielsen Media Research said Monday", not including under 2 year-old of course (see key below the list)...I was more interested to read that it is the second most-watched TV broadcast ever; even the peak viewing in the 4th quarter didn't beat the previous record.

The audience peaked between 9:30 and 10 p.m. ET -the fourth quarter -with 105.7 million people watching, Nielsen said.

That record is held by...wait for it... the "M-A-S-H" finale in 1983; 106 million viewers and being 25 years ago only makes it more impressive there having been less channels and less TV's! Fancy a 'soap', albeit a bloody good one, getting so many viewers, that couldn't happen anywhere but the USA I thought...however, out of interest I wondered what would be the equivalent in the UK...and now, at long last I have discovered something that may make me want to change my nationality - I don't mean one-off events like the 1966 footy World Cup Final or the emotion-fest funeral of Princess Diana...no I mean TV shows...also nearly a quarter century ago...any guesses?...OH THE SHAME. I'm sure available choice would have had a lot to do with it, after all the UK only got Channel 4 in 1982 (note to US readers...no, that '4' isn't a typo!) however... they're still top now, albiet with less than half the number of viewers.