A couple hours after learning that the halo effect from the success of NBC’s The Sound Of Music live staging had spread to ABC’s bajillionth rerun of the 1965 movie, which clocked its biggest overall audience in six years and its best demo stat in three years (6.5 million viewers, 1.3 rating), NBC announced that the audience for its Dec. 5 live broadcast had climbed to nearly 22 million, and a 5.6 demo rating.
TVB CEO Steve Lanzano: “Nielsen’s Social Guide reported that Sound of Music was the No. 1 topic on Twitter for the night the program aired and for the entire week, generating nearly 54,000 more tweets than the No. 2 TV-tweeted program, Scandal, did on Dec. 5.”
NBC’s ‘Sound Of Music’ Sounded Good To Me
Whatever they thought of last night’s live production, NBC affiliates should be pleased with the ratings — 4.6/13 in adults 18-49 across the three hours, according to the overnights. Those numbers translated into NBC’s biggest non-sports Thursday night in three years. The affiliates should be happy whenever the network takes a chance on big live events. Such programming has always been important to broadcasting and never more so than today.
Broadway Wins In Live ‘Sound Of Music’
NBC’s three-hour live telecast of The Sound of Music Thursday night This was the first time in more than a half-century since a broadcast network dared to mount a full-scale musical for live TV. The only real problem was the real reason most people tuned in: Carrie Underwood, an American Idol winner and country music star, sang well as Maria but her acting inexperience was laid bare. She had zero chemistry with her love interest and lacked any intensity or shading. Deer in headlights have emoted more. How do you solve a problem like Maria, indeed.
The broadcast starring Carrie Underwood will likely lose money in its first airing, but the network and chairman Robert Greenblatt are betting on at least one repeat, as well as revenue from the soundtrack and DVD.
