List of most watched United States television broadcasts of 1988
# List of most watched United States television broadcasts of 1988

The following is a list of most watched United States television broadcasts of 1988 (single-network only) according to Nielsen Media Research.

## Most watched by week

| Week of | Program | Network | Viewers (millions) |
| - | - | - | - |
| July 25 | The Deliberate Stranger (Part 2) | NBC | 26.1 |
| July 25 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 26.1 |
| July 25 | A Different World | NBC | 26.1 |
| August 1 | Cheers | NBC | 23.1 |
| August 8 | Cheers | NBC | 25.2 |
| August 8 | A Different World | NBC | 25.2 |
| August 15 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 22.1 |
| August 22 | A Different World | NBC | 28.0 |
| August 29 | A Different World | NBC | 28.7 |
| September 5 | Miss America 1989 | NBC | 33.1 |
| September 12 | A Different World | NBC | 26.9 |
| September 19 | 1988 Summer Olympics (Sat) | NBC | 29.5 |
| September 26 | 1988 Summer Olympics (Mon) | NBC | 27.1 |
| October 3 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 37.6 |
| October 10 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 36.5 |
| October 17 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 40.5 |
| October 24 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 41.1 |
| October 31 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 39.8 |
| November 7 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 49.3 |
| November 14 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 41.7 |
| November 21 | The Golden Girls | NBC | 38.2 |
| November 28 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 41.1 |
| December 5 | The Cosby Show | NBC | 38.0 |
| December 12 | A Very Brady Christmas | CBS | 41.0 |
| December 19 | Roseanne | ABC | 35.4 |
| December 26 | The Karen Carpenter Story | CBS | 40.0 |
