List of most watched United States television broadcasts of 1996

The following is a list of most watched United States television broadcasts of 1996.

Most watched by week

Broadcast (primetime only)

Week of	Title	Network	Viewers (in millions)	Ref.
January 1	ER	NBC	37.6	[ citation needed ]
January 8	Seinfeld		31.9	[ citation needed ]
January 15	Friends		31.6	[ citation needed ]
January 22	Super Bowl XXX		94.1	[ citation needed ]
January 29	Seinfeld		37.1	[ citation needed ]
February 5	ER		38.1	[ citation needed ]
February 12			36.4	[ citation needed ]
February 19			36.0	[ citation needed ]
February 26	Seinfeld		31.5	[ citation needed ]
March 4			32.7	[ citation needed ]
March 11			29.2	[ citation needed ]
March 18	Friends		30.1	[ citation needed ]
March 25	68th Academy Awards	ABC	44.9	[ citation needed ]
April 1	Home Improvement		38.0	[ citation needed ]
April 8	Seinfeld	NBC	25.4	[ citation needed ]
April 15			26.1	[ citation needed ]
April 22	ER		32.2	[ citation needed ]
April 29			34.3	[ citation needed ]
May 6			32.0	[ citation needed ]
May 13			34.3	[ citation needed ]
May 20	Home Improvement	ABC	22.7	[ citation needed ]
May 27			22.6	[ citation needed ]
June 3	NBA Finals (Game 1)	NBC	23.9	[ citation needed ]
June 10	Unknown
June 17	Seinfeld	NBC	20.4	[ citation needed ]
June 24			20.2	[ citation needed ]
July 1	20/20	ABC	15.6	[ citation needed ]
July 8	Seinfeld	NBC	20.1	[ citation needed ]
July 15	1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony		39.8	[ citation needed ]
July 22	1996 Summer Olympics (Thurs)		42.7	[ citation needed ]
July 29	1996 Summer Olympics (Mon)		40.2	[ citation needed ]
August 5	Seinfeld		19.9	[ citation needed ]
August 12			19.3	[ citation needed ]
August 19			22.0	[ citation needed ]
August 26			17.7	[ citation needed ]
September 2	Monday Night Football	ABC	27.7	[ citation needed ]
September 9	Seinfeld	NBC	22.6	[ citation needed ]
1996–97 television season begins
September 16	Seinfeld	NBC	33.7	[ citation needed ]
September 23	ER		34.9	[ citation needed ]
September 30	Seinfeld		31.6	[ citation needed ]
October 7			32.2	[ citation needed ]
October 14	ER		32.9	[ citation needed ]
October 21	World Series (Game 6)	Fox	30.4	[ citation needed ]
October 28	ER	NBC	31.1	[ citation needed ]
November 4			36.7	[ citation needed ]
November 11			37.4	[ citation needed ]
November 18			37.0	[ citation needed ]
November 25	Home Improvement	ABC	25.3	[ citation needed ]
December 2	Seinfeld	NBC	25.3	[ citation needed ]
December 9	ER		32.9	[ citation needed ]
December 16	Unknown
December 23	Seinfeld	NBC	22.4	[ citation needed ]
December 30	Panthers vs. Cowboys (NFL)	Fox	26.6	[ citation needed ]