At the Television Critics Association Press tour this morning NBC chairman, Bob Greenblatt, gave Carrie Underwood and her star power credit for helping to bring in big numbers for The Sound of Music Live in 2013.
“In spite of the fact that there was a lot of critical negativity, I think Carrie Underwood was an enormous amount of draw for The Sound of Music,” Greenblatt told reporters. “That kind of big star helped bring a bigger audience, and it was the first one, and The Sound of Music was a classic, also. Peter Pan’s not as well known as a show. It’s a known fairy tale, but not as well-known a show. We didn’t have stars that were as big as Carrie. I loved what Chris Walken and what Allison [Williams] did, but I think stars would bring a bigger number.”
Peter Pan Live! drew 9.1 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic over 3 hours, down 51 percent from Sound of Music Live!, which brought in 18.5 million viewers and a 4.6, making it one of the network’s biggest Thursday nights since ER ended.
Greatly diminished ratings won’t stop the network from moving forward with another musical production. NBC is planning to mount either Music Man or The Wiz at the end of the year.
“Look, 10 million viewers on a Thursday night for a musical that’s 60 years old is great,” Greenblatt said. “We have no regrets about it.”
