List of longest-running U.S. cable television series

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. 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.

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

Contents

25 seasons and up

Number of
seasons on
U.S. cable		 Series Network First broadcast Last broadcast Number of
episodes
33 700 Club[1] CBN Cable/The Family Channel/Fox Family/ABC Family 1977 present
33 Inside the NFL HBO/Showtime 1977 present
31 SportsCenter ESPN September 7, 1979 present >30,000
30 Bobby Jones Gospel BET January 27, 1980 present
30 Moneyline[2] CNN June 1, 1980 November 11, 2009
30 Washington Journal[3] C-SPAN October 7, 1980 present
27 Gilad's Bodies in Motion ESPN 1983 1994
Fox Sports Net 1994 1995
Discovery Health 1995 2004
FitTV 2004 2011
Discovery Fit & Health 2011 present
25 National Geographic Explorer[4] Nickelodeon 1985 1986
WTBS/TBS 1986 1999
CNBC 1999 2001
MSNBC[5] 2001 2005
National Geographic 2005 present
25 Larry King Live CNN June 3, 1985 December 18, 2010
25 Grand Ole Opry Live[6] TNN April 20, 1985 August 2001
CMT August 2001 2003
GAC[7] 2003 present

20-24 seasons

Number of
seasons		 Series Network First broadcast Last broadcast Number of
episodes
24 WCW Saturday Night[8] WTCG/WTBS/TBS December 17, 1976[9] June 24, 2000
23 Crossfire CNN 1982 June 3, 2005
23 Sunday NFL Countdown ESPN September 7, 1987 present
23 College GameDay (football series) ESPN September 1987 present
23 NFL Primetime ESPN 1987 present
23 Biography[10] A&E April 6, 1987[11] August 2006
Biography Channel August 2006 present[12]
22 The Sports Reporters ESPN[13] October 9, 1988 present
21 Style with Elsa Klensch CNN June 1, 1980 January 2001
20 Evans and Novak[14] CNN September 1982 November 9, 2002
20 Baseball Tonight ESPN March 19, 1990 present
20 ESPN Major League Baseball[15] ESPN, ESPN2[16] April 15, 1990 present
20 Outside the Lines ESPN 1990 present
20 Investigative Reports A&E September 27, 1991 present

15-19 seasons

Number of
seasons on
U.S. cable		 Series Network First broadcast Last broadcast Number of
episodes
19 E! News[17] E! September 1, 1991 present
19 Nick News Nickelodeon 1992 present
19 Reliable Sources CNN March 7, 1992 present
19 ESPN Sunday Night Football[18] ESPN November 8, 1987[19] January 1, 2006
18 Showbiz Today[20] CNN October 29, 1984 2002
18 Power Rangers Fox, ABC Family, Toon Disney, Nickelodeon August 28, 1993 present 700+
18 WWE Monday Night Raw USA January 11, 1993 September 18, 2000 971
TNN/Spike TV September 25, 2000 September 26, 2005
USA October 3, 2005 present
17 NFL Matchup ESPN, ESPN2[21] September 5, 1993 present
17 Monday Night Countdown ESPN September 6, 1993 present
17 USA Tuesday Night Fights USA March 30, 1982 1998
17 The Capital Gang CNN September 7, 1988 2005
16 MTV Unplugged MTV November 26, 1989 November 10, 2005[22] 108
16 Booknotes C-SPAN April 2, 1989 December 5, 2004 801
16 Inside the Actors Studio Bravo August 14, 1994 present
15 South Park Comedy Central August 13, 1997 present 216
15 The Real World[23] MTV May 21, 1992 present 383
15 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel HBO 1995 present
15 Squawk Box CNBC 1995 present
15 Modern Marvels History January 1, 1995 present 350+
15 Golf Talk Golf Channel January 17, 1995 present
15 Golf Central Golf Channel January 18, 1995 present

10-14 seasons

Number of
seasons on
U.S. cable		 Series Network First broadcast Last broadcast Number of
episodes
14 Forensic Files (A.K.A. Medical Detectives) TLC then truTV (formerly Court TV) April, 1996 June 2011 [24] 400
14 An Evening at the Improv A&E February 3, 1982 January 1, 1996
14 SpeedWeek ESPN 1983 1997
14 Video Soul BET June 26, 1983 1997
14 NFL Matchup ESPN, ESPN2[25] September 5, 1993 present
14 Monday Night Countdown ESPN September 6, 1993 present
14 Road Rules MTV July 19, 1995 September 27, 2004[26]
14 Good Eats Food Network July 7, 1999 present 235
13 Real World/Road Rules Challenge MTV September 28, 1997 present
13 Modern Marvels History January 1, 1995 present 350+
13 Tim Russert CNBC 1994 2008
13 Homes Across America[27] HGTV December 1994 October 12, 2005
13 Hannity & Colmes[28] Fox News Channel October 6, 1996 January 9, 2009
12 Room by Room HGTV December 31, 1994 2006[29]
12 Private Screenings TCM January 1, 1996 present
12 Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel HBO 1995 present
12 Squawk Box CNBC 1995 present
12 X-Play G4 1998 present 1000+
11 House of Style MTV January 1, 1989 2000
11 Talk Soup E! December 26, 1991 May 17, 2002
11 The Howard Stern Show E! June 18, 1994 July 8, 2005
11 All That Nickelodeon September 6, 1994[30] October 22, 2005
11 The Daily Show Comedy Central July 22, 1996 present
11 Imus in the Morning[31] MSNBC September 2, 1996 April 11, 2007
11 Fox News Live Fox News Channel October 6, 1996 present
11 Your World with Neil Cavuto Fox News Channel October 6, 1996 present
11 The O'Reilly Factor[32] Fox News Channel October 6, 1996 present
11 E! True Hollywood Story E! 1996 present
11 Gardening by the Yard HGTV 1996 2009
11 A Wedding Story TLC 1996 present
10 Nashville Now TNN March 1, 1983 January 1, 1993
10 Getting Fit ESPN 1987 1997
10 Mystery Science Theater 3000[33] Comedy Central November 27, 1989 May 18, 1996 198
Sci Fi Channel February 1, 1997 August 8, 1999[34]
10 The Crocodile Hunter Animal Planet October 1996 2006 345
10 Stargate SG-1[35] Showtime July 27, 1997 May 17, 2002 215[36]
Sci Fi Channel June 7, 2002 June 22, 2007[37]
10 Hardball with Chris Matthews[38] CNBC 1997 1999
MSNBC 1999 present
10 Emeril Live Food Network 1997 present
10 Denise Austin's Daily Workout Lifetime 1997 present
10 NFL Films Game of the Week[39] ESPN 1997 present
NFL Network November 4, 2003 present
10 Weather Center The Weather Channel March 10, 1998 March 1, 2009

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Aired locally on WYAH-TV Portsmouth, Virginia, 1966-1977, syndicated 1972-present; evolved from locally-broadcast telethons 1962-1966
  2. ^ Became Lou Dobbs Moneyline in 2001, Lou Dobbs Tonight in 2003
  3. ^ Weekend editions are simulcast on the BBC Parliament channel with the name America This Week
  4. ^ Host: Tom Chapin (1985-1988), Robert Urich (1988-1995), Bob Ballard (1988-1995), Boyd Matson (1995-2003), Michael Fay (2001), Lisa Ling (2003-)
  5. ^ Show renamed National Geographic Ultimate Explorer 2003-2005
  6. ^ Oldest continuously running radio program, airing on WSM radio, Nashville, Tennessee
  7. ^ As Grand Ole Opry Live!
  8. ^ Previously Georgia Championship Wrestling (1972-1984), World Championship Wrestling (1984-1992)
  9. ^ Date when WTCG was distributed nationally via cable (WTCG evolved into TBS). Broadcast on WTCG started January 1972.
  10. ^ Originated on CBS
  11. ^ Reran CBS originals, 1984-1987
  12. ^ Rebroadcast A&E originals, 1999-2006
  13. ^ Program rebroadcast later the same day on ESPNEWS
  14. ^ Other names: Evans, Novak, Hunt, and Shields (1998-2001), Novak, Hunt, and Shields (2001-2002)
  15. ^ Includes Sunday Night Baseball, Wednesday Night Baseball, etc.
  16. ^ ESPN2 started broadcasting major league baseball games in 2002 in addition to those offered by ESPN
  17. ^ Previously E! News Daily and E! News Live
  18. ^ Moved to NBC in 2006, at which time Monday Night Football moves from ABC to ESPN
  19. ^ Sunday Night Football shared with TNT, with TNT getting the first half of the season, ESPN the second half, 1990-1997
  20. ^ Also known as CNN Showbiz Today
  21. ^ Presently, each episode first airs on ESPN2 on Fridays, then is repeated on ESPN two days later
  22. ^ New episodes sporadic after 2001
  23. ^ According to MTV, 18th season begins November 22, 2006
  24. ^ Show is on hiatus and and may return on a different network under the original title of "Medical Detectives". Old episodes were airing on Lifetime as of August 2011.
  25. ^ Presently, each episode first airs on ESPN2 on Fridays, then is repeated on ESPN two days later
  26. ^ The start of Season 15 has been announced for January 2008
  27. ^ Had 13 week seasons, according to HGTV
  28. ^ Successor series Hannity debuted January 12, 2009.
  29. ^ HGTV continues to present reruns after non-renewal of series
  30. ^ "Special preview" airing, April 16, 1994
  31. ^ Simulcast of live program at WFAN New York
  32. ^ Originally The O'Reilly Report
  33. ^ Also known as MST3K; first aired locally on KTMA, 1988-1989
  34. ^ official end of series, although one "unofficial" episode (Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders) was shown a month later
  35. ^ Longest-running science fiction series in the United States.
  36. ^ According to Sci Fi Wire
  37. ^ Cancellation announced by Sci Fi Channel, August 21, 2006
  38. ^ Originally Politics with Chris Matthews
  39. ^ First-run syndication 1965-1997