HISTORY's Moments in Media: MAS*H's Record-Setting Finale

What makes the number remarkable is how much the TV audience has grown while the MASH record has held This season according to Nielsen there are 1206 million television households in the country back in 1983 there were only 833 millionThe MASH broadcast scored a 60 rating back then meaning that 60 percent of all households in the country tuned in Amazingly it also earned a 77 share meaning that more than threequarters of households watching television at that time were watching MASH Starting in 2010 as the total number of television households approached 115 million Super Bowl broadcasts began beating the MASH finale in terms of total viewers But they don39t dominate the landscape the way that MASH episode did Super Bowl XLIX is now the mostwatched show ever with more than 114 million viewers even so it drew only a 475 rating and a 71 shareThere39s a simple reason why no program except the Super Bowl has been able to eclipse the MASH finale The way television works has changed so much it39s essentially impossible for one program except live sports to gather such a wide swath of Americans at their sets In 1983 there were only three broadcast networks Rupert Murdoch launched Fox the fourth network in 1986 In 1980 there were only 16 million cable subscribers in America in 1984 Congress passed the Cable Act which helped drive subscribers to 53 million by the end of the decade In 1983 there was no DVR no streaming services and VHS was still considered relatively new If you wanted to watch something on TV there were only a few options to choose from and you had to watch what you wanted to watch when it aired or tape itThe twoandahalfhour final episode of MASH was such a major event in the watchitinrealtime era that according to the UPI more than a million New Yorkers went to the bathroom in the half hour after the episode ended pulling an extra 67 million gallons of water through the city39s water mainsNearly from its beginning MASH struck a chord It was a top10 show for nine of its 11 seasons amp8212 all except its weak premiere year when it ranked 46 and the 1975amp82111976 TV season when it bounced around the CBS schedule and dropped to number 15Based on the 1970 Robert Altman movie of the same name MASH is a dark satire of war that focused on the doctors nurses and other staff at an Army medical camp amp8212 a mobile Army surgical hospital or MASH amp8212 during the Korean War It was an attack on the absurdities and horror of war that commented on the end of the Vietnam era by looking back at America39s previous conflict It was also one of the first television shows to use the classic halfhour sitcom form to tell dramatic stories and one of the first to use cinematic shooting techniques including shooting on location rather than exclusively on a soundstage In interviews Alan Alda one of the show39s stars and one of its driving creative forces has credited the show39s success both to the quality of the cast and crew who made it and to the way audiences connected to its complex charactersThere have been other beloved series since MASH with other finales that felt like major national events But the MASH finale remains the standard against which all TV show finales measured In 1998 the Seinfeld finale garnered 76 million viewers in 2004 52 million Americans watched Friends say farewell No finale has ever earned a higher rating or share than the MASH39s and it39s unlikely that one ever willToday the list of the 20 mostwatched broadcasts of all time includes 19 Super Bowls amp8212 and that last episode of MASHDon39t stop now Stay in the know on AE Networks and HISTORY with more from AETNINSITEScomClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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HISTORY's Moments in Media: MAS*H's Record-Setting Finale

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HISTORY's Moments in Media: M*A*S*H's Record-Setting Finale

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HISTORY's Moments in Media: MAS*H's Record-Setting Finale