List of longest-running American cable television series
Parts of this article (those related to years, seasons, and overall sorting) need to be updated.(September 2021) |
This is a list of the longest running United States cable television series, ordered by number of broadcast seasons.
To qualify for this list, the programming must originate in North America and shown nationally in the United States and be first-run (as opposed to a repackaging of previously aired material or material released in other media). For the purposes of this list, series that were available only on a local or regional basis will be excluded, along with hybrid broadcast/cable networks such as The WB 100+/The CW Plus. For series that originated on U.S. broadcast networks (or broadcast syndication) and then was picked up by a national cable network, only the amount aired nationally on cable as original programming is represented here.
A season for the purpose of this article is defined as a given year, not a production cycle (as in America's Next Top Model) which is defined as a season by the network or the program's distributor; for instance, multiple series on Food Network (e.g. Chopped) count each production cycle as a season rather than classing them by year.
List
[edit]Series shaded in light blue are currently in production. |
25 or more seasons
[edit]Number of seasons |
Series | Network | First broadcast | Last broadcast | Number of episodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
48 | Inside the NFL | HBO | September 22, 1977 | February 6, 2008 | |
Showtime | September 10, 2008 | February 23, 2021 | |||
Paramount+ | September 7, 2021 | April 5, 2023 | |||
The CW | September 9, 2023 | present | |||
43 | SportsCenter | ESPN | September 7, 1979 | present | Over 60,000 |
44 | Washington Journal[1] | C-SPAN | October 7, 1980 | present | |
42–43 | NASCAR on ESPN | ESPN / ESPN2 | 1981 | 2002 | |
2007 | 2014 | ||||
40–41 | Gilad's Bodies in Motion | ESPN | 1983 | 1994 | |
Fox Sports | 1994 | 1995 | |||
Discovery Health | 1995 | 2004 | |||
FitTV | 2004 | 2011 | |||
Discovery Fit & Health | 2011 | present | |||
40 | The Challenge[2] | MTV | September 28, 1997 | present | 558 |
38–39 | National Geographic Explorer[3] | Nickelodeon | 1985 | 1986 | 233 |
WTBS / TBS | 1986 | 1999 | |||
CNBC | 1999 | 2001 | |||
MSNBC[4] | 2001 | 2005 | |||
National Geographic | 2005 | present | |||
39 | Grand Ole Opry Live[5] | TNN | April 20, 1985 | August 2001 | |
CMT | August 2001 | 2003 | |||
GAC[6] | 2003 | 2011 | |||
39 | Sunday NFL Countdown[7] | ESPN | September 7, 1985 | present | |
36–37 | College GameDay | ESPN | September 5, 1987 | present | |
36–37 | NFL Primetime | ESPN | 1987 | present | |
37 | Biography[8] | A&E | April 6, 1987[9] | August 2006 | |
Biography Channel | August 2006 | present[10] | |||
35 | Bobby Jones Gospel | BET | January 27, 1980 | July 31, 2016 | |
35 | NBA on TNT | TNT | November 4, 1989 | present | |
33 | The Real World[11] | MTV | May 21, 1992 | January 4, 2017 | 614 |
Facebook Watch | June 13, 2019 | August 29, 2019 | |||
32 | WWE Raw | USA | January 11, 1993 | September 18, 2000 | 1648 |
TNN/Spike TV | September 25, 2000 | September 26, 2005 | |||
USA | October 3, 2005 | present | |||
32 | The Ultimate Fighter | Spike TV | January 17, 2005 | December 3, 2011 | 150+ (including 23 live Ultimate Finales) |
FX | March 9, 2012 | April 9, 2013 | |||
Fox Sports 1 | September 4, 2013 | present | |||
30 | Baseball Tonight | ESPN | March 19, 1990 | present | |
30 | Outside the Lines | ESPN | 1990 | present | |
30 | Power Rangers | Fox Kids | August 28, 1993 | August 10, 2002 | 973 |
ABC Kids | September 14, 2002 | November 15, 2003 | |||
Jetix (ABC Family) | February 14, 2004 | July 10, 2005 | |||
Jetix (Toon Disney) | July 16, 2005 | November 14, 2005 | |||
Jetix (ABC Family) | February 2, 2006 | ||||
Jetix (Toon Disney) | February 20, 2006 | August 14, 2006 | |||
Jetix (ABC Family) | August 20, 2006 | ||||
Jetix (Toon Disney) | September 18, 2006 | November 3, 2008 | |||
ABC Kids | March 7, 2009 | August 28, 2010 | |||
Nickelodeon | February 7, 2011 | April 17, 2021 | |||
Netflix | June 15, 2021 | September 29, 2023 | |||
30 | Moneyline[12] | CNN | June 1, 1980 | November 11, 2009 | |
29 | Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel | HBO | April 2, 1995 | December 19, 2023 | 320 |
29 | Barefoot Contessa | Food Network | November 30, 2002 | December 19, 2021 | 297 |
28 | The Sports Reporters | ESPN[13] | October 2, 1988 | May 7, 2017 | |
28 | Your World with Neil Cavuto | Fox News Channel | October 7, 1996 | present | |
26 | ESPN SpeedWorld | ESPN | January 14, 1979 | November 19, 2006 | |
26 | South Park | Comedy Central | August 13, 1997 | present | 328 |
26 | Fox & Friends | Fox News Channel | February 1, 1998 | present | |
25 | Larry King Live | CNN | June 3, 1985 | December 18, 2010 | 6,120[14] |
25 | Nick News[15] | Nickelodeon | April 18, 1992 | December 15, 2015 | |
June 29, 2020 | present |
20–24 seasons
[edit]Number of seasons |
Series | Network | First broadcast | Last broadcast | Number of episodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
24 | ESPN Major League Baseball[16] | ESPN / ESPN2[17] | April 15, 1990 | present | |
24 | The Daily Show | Comedy Central | July 22, 1996 | present | 3,873 |
24 | WCW Saturday Night[18] | WTCG/WTBS/TBS | December 17, 1976[19] | August 19, 2000 | |
23 | Crossfire | CNN | June 25, 1982 | June 3, 2005 | |
September 9, 2013 | August 6, 2014 | ||||
23 | Inside the Actors Studio | Bravo | June 12, 1994 | January 11, 2018 | 277 |
Ovation | October 13, 2019 | December 15, 2019 | |||
22 | E! News[20] | E! | September 1, 1991 | present | 7,500+ |
22 | Real Time with Bill Maher | HBO | February 21, 2003 | present | 678 |
21 | Reliable Sources | CNN | March 7, 1992 | August 21, 2022 | |
21 | Modern Marvels | History | January 1, 1995 | April 11, 2015 | 21 |
21 | The O'Reilly Factor[21] | Fox News Channel | October 7, 1996 | April 19, 2017 | 5,321 |
22 | Around the Horn | ESPN | November 4, 2002 | present | 4,831<ref>after Monday November 4th 2024 |
21 | Pawn Stars | History | July 19, 2009 | present | 675 |
21 | Style with Elsa Klensch | CNN | June 1, 1980 | January 2001 | |
20 | NFL Matchup | ESPN / ESPN2[22] | September 5, 1993 | present | |
20 | Monday Night Countdown | ESPN | September 6, 1993 | present | |
20 | Evans and Novak[23] | CNN | September 1982 | November 9, 2002 | |
20 | Deadliest Catch | Discovery Channel | April 12, 2005 | present | 351 |
20 | Keeping Up with the Kardashians | E! | October 14, 2007 | June 10, 2021 | 280 + 6 specials |
20 | Total Request Live | MTV | September 14, 1998 | November 16, 2008 | 2,254 |
October 2, 2017 | 2019 |
15–19 seasons
[edit]Number of seasons |
Series | Network | First broadcast | Last broadcast | Number of episodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | Squawk Box | CNBC | August 7, 1995 | present | |
19 | ESPN Sunday Night Football[24] | ESPN | November 8, 1987[25] | January 1, 2006 | |
19 | NASCAR on TBS | TBS | February 27, 1982 | October 8, 2000 | |
18 | Golf Central | Golf Channel | January 17, 1995 | present | |
18 | The Real Housewives of Orange County | Bravo | March 21, 2006 | present | 328 |
18 | Showbiz Today[26] | CNN | October 29, 1984 | 2002 | |
17 | E! True Hollywood Story | E! | March 29, 1996 | November 23, 2021 | 501 |
17 | Fox News Live | Fox News | 1999 | February 24, 2008 | |
March 6, 2021 | present | ||||
17 | WNBA on ESPN | ESPN | June 23, 1997 | present | |
17 | MythBusters | Discovery Channel | September 23, 2003 | March 5, 2016 | 296 |
Science Channel | November 15, 2017 | February 28, 2018 | |||
17 | USA Tuesday Night Fights | USA | October 1, 1982 | August 25, 1998 | |
17 | Capital Gang | CNN | September 7, 1988 | 2005 | |
16 | NFL Films Game of the Week[27] | ESPN | 1997 | December 29, 2007 | |
16 | Hardball with Chris Matthews[28] | America's Talking | 1991 | 1996 | |
CNBC | 1997 | 1999 | |||
MSNBC | 1999 | February 28, 2020 | |||
16 | Booknotes | C-SPAN | April 2, 1989 | December 5, 2004 | 801 |
16 | MTV Unplugged | MTV | November 26, 1989 | present | |
16 | Good Eats | Food Network | July 7, 1999 | April 2, 2011 | 256 |
August 25, 2019 | July 6, 2020 | ||||
Discovery+ | February 18, 2021 | ||||
16 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | FX | August 4, 2005 | December 20, 2012 | 170 |
FXX | September 4, 2013 | present | |||
16 | Ghost Hunters | Sci Fi Channel / Syfy | October 6, 2004 | October 26, 2016 | 251 (+ 12 specials not included) |
A&E | August 21, 2019 | May 27, 2020 | |||
Discovery+ | October 31, 2021 | March 19, 2022 | |||
Travel Channel | October 1, 2022 | present | |||
15 | Monday Night Countdown | ESPN | September 6, 1993 | present | |
15 | The Real Housewives of Atlanta | Bravo | October 6, 2008 | present | 320 |
15 | Ninjago[29] | Cartoon Network | January 14, 2011 | October 25, 2020 | 210 (+4 pilot episodes, 1 special and several shorts) |
Netflix | March 7, 2021 | October 1, 2022 |
12–14 seasons
[edit]Number of seasons |
Series | Network | First broadcast | Last broadcast | Number of episodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | SpongeBob SquarePants | Nickelodeon | July 17, 1999[30] | present | 310 |
14 | Forensic Files[31] | TLC | April 23, 1996 | December 29, 1999 | 406, including six hour-long specials |
Court TV | September 12, 2000 | December 24, 2007 | |||
truTV | January 7, 2008 | June 17, 2011[32] | |||
15 | Gold Rush | Discovery Channel | December 3, 2010 | present | 367 |
14 | An Evening at the Improv | A&E | February 3, 1982 | January 1, 1996 | |
14 | SpeedWeek | ESPN | 1984 | 1997 | |
14 | Video Soul | BET | June 26, 1983 | September 1996 | |
14 | Road Rules | MTV | July 19, 1995 | September 27, 2004[33] | |
14 | Xplay[34] | ZDTV / TechTV | July 4, 1998 | 2004 | 1,516 |
G4techTV | 2004 | 2005 | |||
G4 | 2005 | 2013 | |||
2021 | October 20, 2022 | ||||
14 | NASCAR on TNT | TNT | July 22, 2001 | July 13, 2014 | |
13 | Tim Russert | CNBC | 1994 | 2008 | |
13 | Private Screenings | TCM | 1995 | 2010 | 28 |
13 | Hannity & Colmes[35] | Fox News Channel | October 7, 1996 | January 9, 2009 | |
13 | Gardening by the Yard | HGTV | 1996 | 2009 | |
14 | Mystery Science Theater 3000[36] | KTMA-TV | November 24, 1988 | May 28, 1989 | 230 |
The Comedy Channel | November 18, 1989 | February 2, 1991 | |||
Comedy Central | June 1, 1991 | May 18, 1996 | |||
Sci Fi Channel | February 1, 1997 | September 12, 1999 | |||
Netflix | April 14, 2017 | November 22, 2018 | |||
Gizmoplex | May 6, 2022[37] | present | |||
12 | Monday Night Baseball | ESPN | April 7, 2002 | present | |
12 | 30 Minute Meals | Food Network | November 17, 2001 | November 9, 2019 | 445+ |
12 | BET's Top 25 | BET | September 22, 2001 | 2008 | |
12 | NASCAR on Speed | Speed | February 11, 2002 | August 16, 2013 | |
12 | American Horror Story | FX | October 5, 2011 | present | 132 |
12 | When Calls the Heart | Hallmark Channel | October 19, 2013 | present | 119 |
12 | American Sports Cavalcade | TNN | 1983 | 1995 | |
12 | Intimate Portrait | Lifetime | November 14, 1993 | October 3, 2005 | 271 |
10–11 seasons
[edit]Number of seasons |
Series | Network | First broadcast | Last broadcast | Number of episodes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11 | Closing Bell | CNBC | February 4, 2002 | present | |
11 | Shameless | Showtime | January 9, 2011 | April 11, 2021 | 134 |
11 | Impractical Jokers | TruTV | December 15, 2011 | February 9, 2023 | 261 (+40 specials) |
TBS | April 6, 2024 | present | |||
11 | Shepard Smith Reporting | Fox News Channel | August 12, 2002 | January 15, 2021 | |
11 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force (alternate titles) |
Adult Swim | September 9, 2001[38] | August 30, 2015 | 139 (1 unaired) |
November 27, 2023 | present | ||||
11 | House of Style | MTV | May 1989 | 2000 | |
October 18, 2012 | |||||
11 | Talk Soup | E! | December 26, 1991 | May 17, 2002 | |
11 | The Howard Stern Show | E! | June 18, 1994 | July 8, 2005 | 1,550+ |
11 | All That | Nickelodeon | January 21, 1995[39] | October 22, 2005 | 210 |
June 15, 2019 | December 17, 2020 | ||||
11 | Imus in the Morning[40] | MSNBC | September 2, 1996 | April 11, 2007 | |
11 | Paula's Home Cooking | Food Network | 2002 | 2013 | 135+ |
11 | On the Record | Fox News Channel | February 4, 2002 | November 11, 2016 | |
11 | Paw Patrol | Nickelodeon | August 12, 2013 | present | 262 |
10 | NFL Total Access | NFL Network | 2003 | May 17, 2024 | |
10 | American Morning | CNN | September 12, 2001 | December 30, 2011 | 2,688 |
10 | Emeril Live | Food Network | October 6, 1997 | December 11, 2007 | |
Fine Living | July 7, 2008 | December 14, 2010 | |||
10 | The Fairly OddParents | Nickelodeon | March 30, 2001 | November 25, 2006 | 172 |
February 18, 2008 | September 16, 2016 | ||||
Nicktoons | January 18, 2017 | July 26, 2017 | |||
10 | Nashville Now | TNN | March 7, 1983 | October 15, 1993 | |
10 | NASCAR on TNN | TNN | March 3, 1991 | November 5, 2000 | |
10 | Stargate SG-1[41] | Showtime | July 27, 1997 | May 17, 2002 | 215[42] |
Sci Fi Channel | June 7, 2002 | June 22, 2007[43] | |||
10 | USA Up All Night | USA Network | January 7, 1989 | March 7, 1998 | 900+ |
10 | Weather Center | The Weather Channel | March 10, 1998 | March 1, 2009 | |
10 | Adventure Time | Cartoon Network | April 5, 2010 | September 3, 2018 | 283 |
See also
[edit]- Lists of longest running American shows by broadcast type:
- Lists of longest running shows internationally:
- List of shortest running shows:
References
[edit]- ^ Weekend editions are simulcast on the BBC Parliament channel with the name America This Week
- ^ Originally Road Rules: All Stars
- ^ Host: Tom Chapin (1985–1988), Robert Urich (1988–1995), Bob Ballard (1988–1995), Boyd Matson (1995–2003), Michael Fay (2001), Lisa Ling (2003-)
- ^ Show renamed National Geographic Ultimate Explorer 2003–2005
- ^ Oldest continuously running radio program, airing on WSM radio, Nashville, Tennessee; has aired on the digital over-the-air network Circle since January 4, 2020.
- ^ As Grand Ole Opry Live!
- ^ (not counting current Sunday evening version airing on ESPN+
- ^ Originated on CBS
- ^ Reran CBS originals, 1984–1987
- ^ Rebroadcast A&E originals, 1999–2006
- ^ Future seasons have aired on Paramount+
- ^ Became Lou Dobbs Moneyline in 2001, Lou Dobbs Tonight in 2003
- ^ Program rebroadcast later the same day on ESPNEWS
- ^ "Larry King ends his record-setting run on CNN". CNN. December 17, 2010.
- ^ Originally Nick News W/5 and later Nick News with Linda Ellerbee
- ^ Includes Sunday Night Baseball, Wednesday Night Baseball, etc.
- ^ ESPN2 started broadcasting major league baseball games in 2002 in addition to those offered by ESPN
- ^ Previously Georgia Championship Wrestling (1972–1984), World Championship Wrestling (1984–1992)
- ^ Date when WTCG was distributed nationally via cable (WTCG evolved into TBS). Broadcast on WTCG started January 1972.
- ^ Previously E! News Daily and E! News Live
- ^ Originally The O'Reilly Report
- ^ Presently, each episode first airs on ESPN2 on Fridays, then is repeated on ESPN two days later
- ^ Other names: Evans, Novak, Hunt, and Shields (1998–2001), Novak, Hunt, and Shields (2001–2002)
- ^ Moved to NBC in 2006, at which time Monday Night Football moves from ABC to ESPN
- ^ Sunday Night Football shared with TNT, with TNT getting the first half of the season, ESPN the second half, 1990–1997
- ^ Also known as CNN Showbiz Today
- ^ First-run syndication 1965–1997
- ^ Originally Politics with Chris Matthews
- ^ Originally Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu
- ^ Sneak peek airing May 1, 1999
- ^ Originally Medical Detectives
- ^ Show is on hiatus and may return on a different network under the original title of "Medical Detectives". Old episodes were airing on Lifetime as of August 2011.
- ^ The start of Season 15 has been announced for January 2008
- ^ Previously GameSpot TV, Extended Play, and X-Play
- ^ Successor series Hannity debuted January 12, 2009.
- ^ Also known as MST3K
- ^ Pre-release date, March 4, 2022
- ^ Sneak peek airing December 30, 2000 on Cartoon Network
- ^ Sneak peek airing April 16, 1994
- ^ Simulcast of live program at WFAN New York
- ^ Longest-running science fiction series in the United States.
- ^ According to Sci Fi Wire Archived 2006-08-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cancellation announced by Sci Fi Channel, August 21, 2006