Show Business: NIELSEN’S TOP 40

The figures represent the percentage of the U.S.’s 51,300,000 TV homes (based on a sample of 979 of them) that Nielsen thinks had sets tuned to the show during an average minute that it was on the air. Programs new this year are in red.

1. The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS) 34.9

2. Bonanza (NBC) 30.9

3. Dick Van Dyke (CBS) 28.1

4. Lucy Show (CBS) 28.1

5. Andy Griffith (CBS) 27.0

6. Petticoat Junction (CBS) 25.9

7. Danny Thomas (CBS) 25.8

8. Red Skelton (CBS) 24.6

9. Perry Mason (CBS) 24.2

10. Donna Reed (ABC) 23.9

11. I’ve Got a Secret (CBS) 23.9

12. Patty Duke (ABC) 23.5

13. Candid Camera (CBS) 23.1

14. Dr. Kildare (NBC) 22.9

15. Ben Casey (ABC) 22.8

16. Jack Benny (CBS) 22.4

17. Hazel (NBC) 22.2

18. My Favorite Martian (CBS) 21.8

19. The Virginian (NBC) 21.7

20. Gunsmoke (CBS) 21.4

21. Grindl (NBC) 21.3

22. Ed Sullivan (CBS) 21.1

23. Lawrence Welk (ABC) 20.9

24. Walt Disney’s World of Color (NBC) 20.9

25. What’s My Line (CBS) 20.5

26. Ozzie and Harriet (ABC) 20.3

27. My Three Sons (ABC) 20.3

28. McHale’s Navy (ABC) 20.2

29. Garry Moore (CBS) 20.1

30. Wagon Train (ABC) 20.1

31. To Tell the Truth (CBS) 20.0

32. Jackie Gleason (CBS) 19.9

33. Rawhide (CBS) 19.8

34. Flintstones (ABC) 19.7

35. Saturday Night at the Movies (NBC) 19.6

36. The Nurses (CBS) 19.6

37. Outer Limits (ABC) 19.3

38. Joey Bishop (NBC) 19.3

39. Fugitive (ABC) 19.0

40. The Greatest Show on Earth (ABC) 18.9