The O.J. Simpson Bronco Chase (1994)

An estimated 95 million Americans diverted their attention from the NBA Finals to watch O.J. Simpson's white Ford Bronco creep along Los Angeles freeways in a surreal, low-speed police chase that lasted nearly two hours. This spontaneous broadcast, which interrupted regular programming across major networks, effectively invented reality television before the genre had a name. The event drew a larger audience than the #6 M*A*S*H finale by about 11 million viewers, even though it was unplanned. The chase became a defining moment of the 1990s, blurring the line between news and entertainment and foreshadowing the voyeuristic nature of modern media.