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EW, Deadline

NBC’s ‘Peter Pan Live!’ Ratings Down Significantly From Last Year’s ‘Sound of Music Live!’

Dec 5, 2014  •  Post A Comment

Last night’s three-hour live musical production of “Peter Pan” on NBC delivered viewer numbers well below those for the network’s live version of “The Sound of Music” a year ago.

Thursday night’s broadcast delivered “a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating, down 51 percent from [last year’s] ‘The Sound of Music Live!’” writes James Hibberd in Entertainment Weekly. Hibberd adds: “While ‘Peter Pan’ was one of last night’s strongest shows, it still averaged less than a couple sitcoms — CBS’s ‘Mom’ and ‘Two and a Half Men,’ both of which had a 2.5 demo rating.”

“Peter Pan Live!” delivered 9.13 million total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights, less than half the 18.6 million who turned out for “The Sound of Music Live!”

In a press release, NBC noted, “In 18-49, ‘Peter Pan Live!’ delivered NBC’s second-highest-rated Thursday, excluding sports, in three years (since Sept. 22, 2011).”

To read the opinion of TVWeek Open Mic blogger Chuck Ross about last night’s “Peter Pan,” including how NBC should handle these specials in the future, please click here.

According to Deadline.com, NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt released this statement about the ratings of the show:

“We’re very pleased with the ‘Peter Pan’ ratings and it was a great night for NBC. We won every hour, which hasn’t happened on Thursday with entertainment programming since a year ago. I’m proud to be part of a company that takes chances and creates big events, and that’s exactly what we’re going to continue to do.

“We didn’t expect to reach the same rating as ‘The Sound of Music’ since that was the first live movie event of its kind in over 50 years. But the high wire act of ‘Peter Pan’ was a joy for everyone involved and I take my hat off to Allison Williams, Christopher Walken, the entire company, and our incredible directors and producers for three months of the hardest work I’ve ever seen. I love these live events and we’re already working on putting the next one together.”

One Comment

  1. The ratings were down because Allison Williams does not have the huge fan base that Carrie Underwood brings to a show. Next year, make sure that you have a legitimate star with a large fan following who will watch her/him in anything.

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