Study Ranks Top 20 TV Moments of Past 50 Years

By Audrey Asistio, KSEE24 News

July 11, 2012 Updated Jul 11, 2012 at 7:52 PM PDT

A new study lists the most memorable TV moments of the past 50 years. Sony Electronics and the Nielsen Television Research Company conducted the survey.

According to the study, the September 11 terrorist attacks ranked the most memorable television moment. The second ranked moment was the coverage of Hurricane Katrina. O.J. Simpson's murder trial ranked third, followed by the Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion, and the death of Osama Bin Laden. The study ranked TV moments for their impact by asking people if they remembered watching them, if they remember where they watched it, who they were with, and whether they talked to others about what they saw.

The study was based on an online questionnaire of more than 1,000 people.

Top 20 TV Moments

1. September 11th tragedy (2001)

2. Hurricane Katrina (2005)

3. O.J. Simpson verdict (1995)

4. Challenger space shuttle crash (1986)

5. Death of Osama Bin Laden (2011)

6. The white Bronco high-speed chase (1994)

7. Japan Earthquake (2011)

8. Columbine school shooting (1999)

9. Oil spill in the Gulf (2010)

10. Princess Diana's funeral (1997)

11. News coverage of the death of Whitney Houston (2012)

12. Capture and execution of Saddam Hussein (2006)

13. Barack Obama acceptance speech (2008)

14. Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton (2011)

15. Assassination of JFK (1963)

16. Oklahoma City bombing (1995)

17. Bush/Gore election debacle (2000)

18. Los Angeles riots, Rodney King beating (1992)

19. The Casey Anthony murder trial verdict (2011)

20. The funeral of JFK (1963)

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