# The Seinfeld finale

> Seinfeld's finale drew an average US television audience of 76.3 million.

- Owner: Castle Rock Entertainment (producer); NBC (original broadcaster)
- Kind: Series
- Sector: Entertainment
- Seed date: 1998-05-14
- Peak proxy date: 1998-05-14
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 51 (Notable, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Mystery & lore, Press loop, Platform jump, Controversy, Pairing

## Summary

NBC kept the finale's plot secret and promoted it through news coverage. It drew 76.3 million US viewers as fans gathered for parties. Its courtroom ending drew criticism and later resurfaced in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

## Timeline

- 1997-12-26 — TIME (Press) — TIME reported that NBC had confirmed Seinfeld would end production and planned a finale.
- 1998-03-16 — Los Angeles Times (Press) — The Los Angeles Times reported that a fabricated finale outline had circulated online and reached the Daily News.
- 1998-04-09 — Seinfeld cast / Castle Rock Entertainment (TV) — The cast finished the invitation-only finale taping while the ending remained secret.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/seinfeld-finale

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “The Seinfeld finale.” Case HIS-01466. Spread Score v1.3: 51/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01466