My favorite channels: Sports, Information

Sports: ESPN Fox Sports, CBS Sports, NBC Sports

Information Education Learning:
 History, National Geographic, Discovery, PBS,
BBC knowledge,  smithsonian,  NASA,  TED,  Great Courses, World
Science, Nat Geo Wild, Animal Planet, 
  DIY channel,  Enginering Guy
Science channel $35-$50 Sling, $65-$71 Hulu
 
 
News: CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, Bloomberg

Kids: 
Sesame Street and Nickelodeon used to be the most popular,
but there are a bunch of new ones.  I couldn't find a consensus. 
Pre-School  Sprout, PBS Kids, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood


Talk: Colbert (CBS) \
 2021
 World Series Fox Live
 Football:  NFL channel
 Cal football: fuboTV, https://pac-12.com/sport/football

Most Popular

Most popular TV shows 
All Time (There are many lists)
This is my combination of several lists
Cheers (1,2)
Seinfeld (3,3)
Friends (2,30)
Arrested Development (4,4)
The Cosby Show (5,5)
30 Rock (6,6)
Married With Children
The Office (UK) (7)
The Office (US) (9, 15)
Modern Family (6,18)
Big Bang Theory (Not ranked because it's current)
M.A.S.H
The Simpsons
Golden Girls
Family Ties
Three's Company
All in the Family
The 50 Greatest Sitcoms of All Time | underscoopfire.com
The 100 Best TV Sitcoms of All Time | pastemagazine.com

Current 2015-16 Season

	

	

		
Rank
 
Program
 
Rating
Points
	
	
	

	

		
1
 
The Walking Dead AMC
 
9.6
	
	

		
2
 
NFL Sunday Night Football NBC
 
7.8
	
	

		
3
 
Empire Fox
 
6.6
	
	

		
4
 
NFL Thursday Night Football CBS/NFL Network
 
6.0
	
	

		
5
 
The Big Bang Theory CBS
 
5.8
	
	

		
6
 
Game of Thrones HBO
 
5.0
	
	

		
7
 
The X-Files Fox
 
4.8
	
	

		
8
 
NFL Monday Night Football ESPN
 
4.6
	
	

		
9
 
Modern Family ABC
 
4.4
	
	

		
10
 
Grey’s Anatomy ABC
 
3.7
	
	

		
11
 
Fear the Walking Dead AMC
 
3.6
	
	

		
12
 
Scandal ABC
 
3.5
	
	

		
How to Get Away with Murder ABC
	
	

		
The Voice (Monday) NBC
	
	

		
15
 
Blindspot NBC
 
3.3
	
	

		
American Horror Story FX
	
	

		
The Voice (Tuesday) NBC
	
	

		
18
 
NCIS CBS
 
3.1
	
	

		
The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story FX
	
	

		
20
 
American Idol (Wednesday) Fox
 
3.0 
	
	

		
Talking Dead AMC
 

	
	

		
Criminal Minds CBS
 

	
	

		
The Bachelor ABC
	
	

		
24
 
The Goldbergs ABC
 
2.9
	
	

		
25
 
Survivor CBS2.8
	
	

		
Chicago Fire NBC
	
	

		
Black-ish ABC
	
	

	 
The Blacklist NBC
	 
	

		
American Idol (Thursday) Fox
	
	

		
Scorpion CBS
	
	

		
31
 
Law & Order: SVU NBC
 
2.7
	
	

		
The Bachelorette ABC
	
	

		
Life in Pieces CBS
	
	

		
Into the Badlands AMC
 

	
	



100 Most-Watched TV Shows of the 2015-16 Season | IndieWire

2014-2015 season
1. NFL Sunday Night Football (NBC) 21.03 million
2. The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 19.05 million
3. NCIS (CBS) 18.25 million
4. NCIS: New Orleans (CBS) 17.42 million
5. Empire (FOX) 17.33 million
6. NFL Thursday Night Football (CBS) 16.82 milion
7. NFL Sunday Pre-Kick (NBC) 15.81 million
8. Dancing with the Stars (ABC) 14.76 million
9. Madam Secretary (CBS) 14.32 million
10. Criminal Minds (CBS) 14.11 million
11. The Voice (NBC) 13.80 million
12. Blue Bloods (CBS) 13.77 million
13. The Blacklist (NBC) 13.76 million
...
18. 60 Minutes (CBS) 12.58 million
19. Hawaii 5-0 (CBS)  12.28 million
20. Dancing with the Stars results (ABC) 12.27 million
21. The Good Wife (CBS) 12.22 million
22. Person of Interest (CBS) 12.21 million
23. Two and a Half Men (CBS) 11.95 million
24. Modern Family (ABC) 11.91 million
25. The Mentalist (CBS) 11.80 million
...
34. CSI (CBS) 11.19 million
35. Elementary (CBS) 11.12 million
36. Grey's Anatomy (ABC) 11.08 million

Gaps are programs I'd never heard of, but I don't watch a lot of TV.
See the complete list below.
The 50 Most Watched Broadcast Shows of 2014-15 | EW.com

Rankings from: Most Popular TV Shows - TV.com 2010's

Old [best seasons]
x.x Rating at IMDB.com
   Breaking Bad (2008-2013) 9.5
   The Wire (2002-2008) [4, 3, 1, 2, 5] 9.3
   The Sopranos ( 1999-2007) [5, 1, 6B, 3, 2, 4, 6A] 9.2
   Friends (1994-2004) [ 5, 4, 2, 3, 1, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10] 9
   Seinfeld (1989-1998) [5, 4, 7, 3, 6, 2, 8, 9, 1] 8.9
   The West Wing (1999-2006) [2, 3, 1, 4, 7, 6, 5] 8.8
   Mad Men (2007-2015) 8.7
   ER (1994-2009) [4, 3, 2, 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 12, 10, 11, 7, 14] 7.7
   Lost (2004-2010) [5, 1, 4, 3, 2, 6] 8.5
   Cheers (1982-1993) 7.8
   The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (1996-2015) 8.8
   Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1994) 9
   Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) 8.6
   The 40 Best TV Series of All Time, According to IMDB Users
A Definitive Ranking of Every Season of Every TV Show That Mattered - The Wire