How many countries did The Muppet Show air in?

1979 Muppet Show Fan Club Newsletter country word search

This page documents the varying estimates for the number of countries that aired The Muppet Show (and the number of viewers per week).

• 1977 (September 8), Today: Jim Henson tells Gene Shalit that "their show is carried on 163 stations plus the one carrying Sesame Street.

• 1977 (Oct), Ladies' Home Journal: "On television... their very own Muppets Show (sic) lightens 163 stations across America and they're a small-screen scream in 103 countries."

• 1977 (Nov 7), People Weekly: "Now the Hensons are repeating their wacky success with The Muppet Show, an Emmy winner syndicated in 163 U.S. cities and an astonishing 103 foreign countries."

• 1978 (Jan 8), The New York Times: "Indeed, playing as it does in nearly 100 other countries in a variety of languages..."

• 1978 (Mar 3), The Vent Event: "Today, the Muppets are seen on Sesame Street in over 40 countries. And, The Muppet Show is shown in over 103 countries... with a weekly audience of 235 million. ("Dr." Jerry Nelson)

• 1978 (Aug 6), TV Guide: "The Muppets are seen in 103 countries."

• 1978 (Aug 28), Time: "With 156 outlets in the U.S. and 106 overseas, it is the most popular first-run TV show internationally."

• 1978, Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter, Volume 1, Number 2: "The Muppet Show is now one of the most widely viewed shows in the world. In many of the 103 countries where it can be seen, the characters' voices are dubbed into the native language."

• 1978, Episode 317: Kermit announces that the show is now seen in 108 countries.

• 1978 (Dec 25), Time: "The Muppet series is seen by at least 235 million people in 106 countries."

• 1979, Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter, Volume 1, Number 6: "The Muppet Show is now shown in 108 countries, with 235 million viewers each week."

• 1979, Variety: A colour advertising supplement promoting the 4th year states the show is "Enjoyed by 235 Million Viewers Each Week Throughout the World:" and lists 94 countries.

• 1979 (June 10), The New York Times Magazine: "[The show] has some 235 million television viewers in 102 countries. Significantly, more than half of that audience is estimated to be adult (75 percent in Britain)."

• 1979 (Sept 3), People Weekly: "Miss Piggy burst into celebrity as the star of The Muppet Show, a huge TV hit that is aired in 106 countries and seen every week by 260 million viewers."

• 1980 (Nov), Seventeen: "Each week, The Muppet Show is seen in 106 countries by more than a quarter of a billion viewers."

• 1981 (Aug 1), TV Guide: "Almost a quarter of a billion people have watched you and your fellow stars of The Muppet Show each week."

• 1981, Of Muppets and Men: "The Muppet Show is now seen in over a hundred countries."

• 1984, Henson's Place: David Lazer replied, when asked how successful The Muppet Show was in international terms, "Enormously successful. We were in 106 countries, and it was dubbed in 5 languages, and we had 235 million people a week watching it."

• 1988, Jim Henson: Muppet Master: "By 1978 the show had attracted an estimated 230 million viewers in 106 countries."

• 1988 (March), Channels: "The Muppet Show charmed TV programmers elsewhere as well, and was sold in 106 countries."

• 1989 (August), The Guinness Book of World Records: "the most widely viewed program in the world, with an estimated 235 million [viewers] in 106 countries."

• 1990 (May), Entertainment Tonight: "Over the years, The Muppet Show became the most widely seen TV program in the world with an estimated 235 million viewers."

• 1990 (July/August), The Disney Channel Magazine: "The Muppet Show has an audience of 235 million people in 106 countries, half of them adults."

• 1991, The Value of Imagination: "Though The Muppet Show was born in England, Grade soon sold it to TV stations in more than 100 countries."

• 1993, Muppet Hits liner notes: "[The Muppet Show] ran for five years and was seen by as many as 235 million people each week in more than 100 countries."

• 1993 (August 16), The New Yorker: "At its peak in the late seventies, it was seen every week by 235 million viewers in over 100 countries."

• 2001 (December 9), Brian Henson at MuppetFest: "We say that The Muppet Show was seen in 100 countries, and 230 million viewers around the world. That's presented a lot as fact... We also know it's virtually impossible to know how many people are watching around the world. But it's a pretty good estimate."

• 2005, The Muppet Show: Season One episode 121 Muppet Morsels: 250 million viewers; 102 countries

• 2006, Best Ever Muppet Moments: "The Muppet Show was a roaring success, pulling in 14 million viewers every Sunday tea time on our TV."

• 2008, Street Gang: "At its peak of popularity, The Muppet Show was the world's most successful televised comedy, syndicated in more than a hundred countries and dubbed in fifteen foreign languages, including Mandarin, Portuguese, Polish, and Swedish."

External links

• ToughPigs.com "Fuzzy Math" by Danny Horn, July 7, 2003
• Wikipedia: List of countries