List of longest-running television shows by category

This is a list of the longest-running television shows by category. The criterion for the longest-running show is 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.

Years	Category	Show name	Country	Duration	Channel/network	No. of episodes
87	Outside broadcast	Lord Mayor's Show	United Kingdom	1937–1938, 1946–present (not broadcast during WW2 1939–1945) [1]	BBC Television Service, BBC One
87	Outside broadcast	Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph	United Kingdom	1937–1938, 1946–present (not broadcast during WW2 1939–1945)	BBC Television Service, BBC One
87	Sports outside broadcast	The Championships, Wimbledon [2]	United Kingdom	1937, [3] 1939,1946–present (not played during World War II, nor in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns)	BBC Television Service, BBC One/Two
77	News show	Meet the Press	United States	1947–present	NBC	4,946+
76	Newscast	CBS Evening News	United States	1948–present	CBS	16,400+
75	Religious program	Music and the Spoken Word	United States	1949–present	KSL (Television since 1949, radio since 1929)	3900+
75	Religious program	Le Jour du Seigneur	France	1949–present	TF1 (1949–87) France 2 (since 1987)
73	Song contest	Sanremo Music Festival	Italy	1951–present	RAI (radio broadcast since 1951, TV broadcast since 1955)
72	Sports show	Hockey Night in Canada	Canada	1952–present	CBC, City/Sportsnet, CTV
71	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
70	Talk show	The Tonight Show	United States	1954–present	NBC
69	Annual live international beauty pageant	Miss Universe	United States	1955–present	CBS, NBC, FOX	72
	Annual live national beauty pageant	Miss America	United States	1955–present	ABC, NBC, CBS	96 (102)
	Religious program	Minuto de Dios	Colombia	1955–present	Caracol Televisión, RCN Televisión, Canal 1
68	Annual live song contest	Eurovision Song Contest	Europe	1956–present	EBU	104
67	Science show	The Sky at Night	United Kingdom	1957–present	BBC One, BBC Four	825 (as of Oct 2022)
66	Children's show	Blue Peter	United Kingdom	1958–present	BBC One, CBBC	5,294 (as of 13 October 2023)
	Historical drama	Zenigata Heiji	Japan	1958–2006	various
	Agriculture information	Plodovi zemlje	Croatia	1958–present	HRT 1	1,900 (as of 14 March 2017)
65	Animated	Sandmännchen	Germany	1959–present	Deutscher Fernsehfunk, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg	22,200
64	Soap opera	Coronation Street	United Kingdom	1960–present	ITV	10,000+
63	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]
	Documentary	Four Corners	Australia	1961–present	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
62	Song contest	Festivali i Këngës	Albania	1962–present	RTSH
	Medicine talk show	Trupi dhe Shëndeti	Albania	1962–present	RTSH	1000+
61	Science fiction	Doctor Who	United Kingdom	1963–1989, 1996, [5] 2005–present	BBC One	882 (as of 25 December 2024)
61	Variety show	Programa Silvio Santos	Brazil	1963–present	SBT	3000+
60	Music chart show	Top of the Pops	United Kingdom	1964–2006; Christmas shows only 2006–present	BBC One, BBC Two	2,219
59	Nature documentary	Le Jardin extraordinaire	Belgium	1965–present	RTBF	2400+
58	Game show	Des chiffres et des lettres	France	1965–2024	France 2 (1965–2006) France 3 (2006–2024)	20,000 (as of October 2012 [update] )
	Children's show (preschool)	Play School	Australia	1966–present	Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)	4,500+
	Comedy special	Áramótaskaupið	Iceland	1966–present	Ríkisútvarpið	56
55	Anime for kids	Sazae-san	Japan	1969–present	Fuji Television	7,000+ [6]
	Kids Educational	Sesame Street	United States	1969–present	NET (1969–1970), PBS (1970–), HBO (2016–2020), HBO Max (2020–)	4000+
54	Police procedural	Tatort	Germany	1970–present	Das Erste	1,136 (as of 6 September 2020 [update] ) [7]
51	Sketch comedy show	Radio Rochela	Venezuela	1959–2010	RCTV	2,652
48	Charity show	The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon	United States	1966–2014	Various	48
	Talk show - hosted continuously by same host	Tetsuko's Room	Japan	1976–present	TV_Asahi	12,100 (as of 12 September 2023) [8]
	Sports variety	Grandstand	United Kingdom	1958–2007	BBC One, BBC Two	3500
	Political satire	Extra 3	Germany	1976–present	Das Erste
	Automotive	Top Gear (relaunched in 2002)	United Kingdom	1976–2001, 2002–2023	BBC Two, BBC One
47	Film review	Film	United Kingdom	1971–2018	BBC One
44	Educational game show	Shell Quiz	Thailand	1965–2009	TV4, MCOT HD, TV11, ETV, Nation TV
40	Glove puppetry show	Pili	Taiwan	1984–present [9]	Pili TV	2,000+
37	Sitcom	Last of the Summer Wine	United Kingdom	1973–2010	BBC One	295
37	Music video show	Rage	Australia	1987–present	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
37	Comedy drama	Kopi kade	Sri Lanka	1987–present	ITN	2,000+
35	Reality show	America's Funniest Home Videos	United States	1989–present	American Broadcasting Company
35	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 Indian television series
• List of longest-running Australian television series
• List of longest-running Philippine television series
• List of longest-running Spanish 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

1. "The Lord Mayor's Show dates". BBC Genome. Retrieved 2018-09-10.
2. "Wimbledon". Genome Project. 9 October 2018.
3. "Wimbledon and the BBC 1927 to 2017". History of the BBC. 22 November 2018.
4. "Mac McGarry, 'It's Academic' host, dies at 87". The Washington Post . Retrieved 5 October 2014.
5. "BBC – Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – Doctor Who: The TV Movie – Details". 2015-05-05. Archived from the original on 2015-05-05. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
6. "Sazae-san".
7. "Die Fälle – Tatort – ARD | Das Erste".
8. "『徹子の部屋』ギネス世界記録更新！同一司会者によるトーク番組の最多放送".
9. "Pili Glove Puppetry". Taiwan Ministry of Culture. 2017-01-03.