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.

Years	Category	Show name	Country	Duration	Channel/network	Episodes
80	Outside broadcast	Lord Mayor's Show	United Kingdom	1937–1938, 1946–present (not broadcast during WW2 1939–1945)^[1]	BBC Television Service, BBC One
80	Outside broadcast	Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph	United Kingdom	1937–1938, 1946–present (not broadcast during WW2 1939–1945)	BBC Television Service, BBC One
77	Sports outside broadcast	The Championships, Wimbledon^[2]	United Kingdom	1937,^[3] 1939, 1946–2019, 2021–present (not played during World War II, nor in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns)	BBC Television Service, BBC One/Two
75	News show	Meet the Press	United States	1947–present	NBC	4,946+
73	Newscast	CBS Evening News	United States	1948–present	CBS	16,400+
73	Religious program	Le Jour du Seigneur	France	1949–present	TF1 (1949–87) France 2 (since 1987)
70	Sports show	Hockey Night in Canada	Canada	1952–present	CBC, City/Sportsnet, CTV
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
67	Talk show	The Tonight Show	United States	1954–present	NBC
66	Song contest	Sanremo Music Festival	Italy	1951–present	RAI (radio broadcast since 1951, TV broadcast since 1955)
	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)
67	Song contest	Eurovision Song Contest	Various participating countries	1956–2019,2021–present	European Broadcasting Union	The most recent contest (2023) is hosted in Liverpool, United Kingdom, on behalf of Ukraine.
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
	Children's show	Blue Peter	United Kingdom	1958–present	BBC One, CBBC	5,000 (as of 1 February 2018^[update])
63	Historical drama	Zenigata Heiji	Japan	1958–2006	various
63	Agriculture information	Plodovi zemlje	Croatia	1958–present	HRT 1	1900 (as of 14 March 2017)
62	Animated	Sandmännchen	Germany	1959–present	Deutscher Fernsehfunk, Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg	22,200
	News show	Telejornal	Portugal	1959–present	RTP 1
	Soap opera	Coronation Street	United Kingdom	1960–present	ITV	10000+
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]
60	Song contest	Festivali i Këngës	Albania	1962–present	RTSH
60	Medicine talk show	Trupi dhe Shëndeti	Albania	1962–present	RTSH	1000+
60	Science fiction	Doctor Who	United Kingdom	1963–1989, 1996,^[5] 2005–present	BBC One	875 (as of 25 December 2023)
59	Children's program	Good night, kids	Soviet Union (1964–1991) Russia (1991–present)	1964–present	Вторая программа ЦТ (1964—1976;1981—1991) Четвёртая программа ЦТ (1976—1981)^[6] 1-й канал Останкино (1992—1995) ОРТ (1995—2001) Культура/Россия-Культура (2001—2002, с 2014 года) РТР/Россия/Россия-1 (2002—2015) Карусель (с 2010 года)	4994
58	Variety show	Programa Silvio Santos	Brazil	1963–present	SBT	3000+
59	Music chart show	Top of the Pops	United Kingdom	1964–2006; Christmas shows only 2006–present	BBC One, BBC Two	2,219
59	Documentary	Four Corners	Australia	1961–present	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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])
56	Children's show (preschool)	Play School	Australia	1966–present	Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)	4,500+
56	Comedy special	Áramótaskaupið	Iceland	1966–present	Ríkisútvarpið	56
55	Variety show	Súper Sábado Sensacional	Venezuela	1968–present	RCTV (1968–1972), Venevisión (1972–present)	2,800+
53	Anime for kids	Sazae-san	Japan	1969–present	Fuji Television	7000+^[7]
53	Kids Educational	Sesame Street	United States	1969–present	NET (1969–1970), PBS (1970–), HBO (2016–2020), HBO Max (2020–)	4000+
52	Police procedural	Tatort	Germany	1970–present	Das Erste	1,136 (as of 6 September 2020^[update])^[8]
51	Sketch comedy show	Radio Rochela	Venezuela	1959–2010	RCTV	2652
49	Charity show	The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon	United States	1966–2014	Various	48
49	Sports variety	Grandstand	United Kingdom	1958–2007	BBC One, BBC Two	3500
47	Film review	Film	United Kingdom	1971–2018	BBC One
45	Political satire	Extra 3	Germany	1976–present	Das Erste
45	Automotive	Top Gear (relaunched in 2002)	United Kingdom	1976–2001, 2002–2023	BBC Two, BBC One
44	Variety show	Eat Bulaga	Philippines	1979–present	RPN 9, ABS-CBN, GMA Network, TV5	13,000+
38	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
35	Music video show	Rage	Australia	1987–present	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
34	Comedy drama	Kopi kade	Sri Lanka	1987–present	ITN	1,900+
34	Anime for kids	Anpanman	Japan	1988 – present	Nippon TV	1,600+
33	Reality show	America's Funniest Home Videos	United States	1989–present	American Broadcasting Company
33	Adult animation	The Simpsons	United States	1989–present	Fox Broadcasting Company	700+
28	Variety Show	Siempre en Domingo	Mexico	1969–1998	Televisa	1,480
22	Historical drama	Cuéntame como pasó	Spain	2001–2023	TVE	422
18	Comedy	Comedy Club	Russia	2005–present	ТНТ	738
15	Fantasy	Supernatural	United States	2005–2020	The WB	327