'Sound of Music' Encore Ratings See Giant Drop
by EG
More than 18 million viewers tuned in to the initial live airing of NBC's new production of "The Sound of Music," but apparently only a fraction of those viewers liked the show enough to want to see it again. An encore airing of the musical last Saturday saw a huge ratings drop-off compared to its first run.
The show's Dec. 14 airing drew 3.16 total viewers, which is an 83% drop from the live Dec. 5 airing. The numbers put NBC in third place among the big four broadcast networks, with only ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight" and "CMA Country Christmas," both of which were also repeats, getting lower ratings.
NBC had pulled a planned airing of "It's a Wonderful Life" in favor of the rerun of "Sound of Music" on Saturday, but viewers seemed to prefer the idea of Christmas classics to the new musical production. Reruns of "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snow Man" on CBS easily beat NBC's offering, and the animated classics doubled "Sound of Music"'s ratings in the 18-49 demographic.
The Carrie Underwood musical vehicle was widely panned by critics and fans of the original "Sound of Music" film, and the fall-off in interest in the new production doesn't bode well for sales of its release on DVD this week.