Mediabase, which has kept track of radio airplay since 1987, has crowned "Apologize" as the biggest Top 40 hit ever, bypassing Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous."
Granted that's only 20 years and hence the asterisk. "Apologize" racked up  10,331 spins on the weekly chart ending Saturday.  100% of the 129 Top 40 radio stations on Mediabase's Top 40 panel are playing the song.
Mediabase assembled its list of one-week wonders, which in the tracking world means the biggest hits over any seven-day block and not necessarily songs that had spectacular lifespans like "Umbrella" or "Crazy." Perhaps Eliot Spitzer might find this list interesting - it clearly reveals the ramifications of media consolidation, restricted playlists that are shared market-to-market and the fact that radio seems to foolishly cling to the belief that popular music is superstar based.

1)  Timbaland/OneRepublic: Apologize
2)  Nelly Furtado: Promiscuous
3)  Beyonce: Irreplaceable
4)  Justin Timberlake: Sexyback
5)  Fergie: Big Girls Don't Cry
6)  Avril Lavigne: Complicated
7)  Nelly Furtado: Say It Right
8)  Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean: Hips Don't Lie
9)  Nickelback: How You Remind Me
10) Justin Timberlake: What Goes Around Comes Around