'The Andy Griffith Show' was the 60th most watched TV show. In 2016.

Mayberry still gets plenty of visitors.

There are countless television shows to watch. Heck, there are countless television shows to watch that aren't technically broadcast on television. Still, it's always nice to come home to an old favorite. Obviously, we know a little about that. 

As we enter a new year, loads of data and lists have been released to recap 2016. Netflix dominated some lists of most-watched TV shows, with the streaming service's Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things and Fuller House luring loads of eyeballs.

That being said, by one measure, a certain series from a half-century ago continued chart. 

Michael Mulvihill, a writer for Fox Sports, loves to dig into Nielsen Ratings data. He pulled every show, from every network, and converted the ratings to minutes viewed. This means that a show that airs more frequently will rate higher than a series that merely runs 10 episodes through the entire year. Using that metric, the top ten looks like this:

1. Law & Order: SVU
2. SpongeBob SquarePants
3. NCIS
4. Forensic Files
5. Teen Titans Go
6. Good Morning America
7. CNN Newsroom
8. Today
9. American Pickers
10. Big Bang Theory

The difference between these shows and, say, Stranger Things is that they are on all the time. Getting millions of viewers is one thing, but doing it hundreds of times over the year adds up.

Which is how The Andy Griffith Show managed to clock 36.9 billion minutes of viewing, enough to come in at No. 60. The Andy Griffith Show is on frequently. May Mayberry reign for another 50 years!

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