Why were the viewership and ratings for the final episode so huge

[TMC]

If you go on Wikipedia now, and see a section that lists the 20 most-watched American telecasts of all-time by average viewership according to Nielsen, the series finale for M*A*S*H from February 28, 1983, is the only one that isn't a Super Bowl that's on there. It's currently, ranked in 11th place.

Overall, the final episode is said to have averaged 105,970,000 viewers and earned a Nielsen rating of 60.2 with a 77 share. Even if you take Super Bowls into account, the final episode of M*A*S*H is somehow the highest rated American TV broadcast of all-time.

If you discount sporting events like the Super Bowl or the 1994 Winter Olympics on CBS (especially, the ladies figure skating event on February 23, 1994) or real life, live breaking news stories like the O.J. Simpson trial verdict and only focus on scripted programming, then the next highest rated American TV broadcast since the final episode of M*A*S*H was the last episode of Cheers ten years later.