War in the Alps: 'Sound of Music' Reboot and Original Ratings Competition

You wouldn't think the meadow-romping story of the singing Von Trapp family would be particularly controversial, but thanks to the critical beating taken by NBC's "The Sound of Music Live!," the ratings for both the reboot and ABC's broadcast of the original 1965 movie were a hot topic of conversation this week.

The new NBC version, which starred Carrie Underwood in the role made famous by Julie Andrews, scored huge ratings when it aired live on Dec. 5. More than 18 million viewers tuned in on the night of the broadcast, and when you factor in DVR viewings over the next week, the total viewership of the production came in at over 21 million. It was easily the most-watched program of the week.

But reviews of the production were overwhelmingly negative, and there was a suggestion that many viewers were hate-watching the show. When you consider that Nielsen says nearly 39 million viewers watched at least part of the broadcast—meaning that nearly half the viewers that started watching it didn't finish—it seems there could be something to the claim.

The Dec. 22 airing of the 1965 original film on ABC pulled in a total of 6.5 million viewers. That's obviously a fraction of the total viewership of the NBC version's live broadcast, but it's worth noting that an encore broadcast of the NBC version on Dec. 14 drew only 3.2 million viewers. The numbers suggest that curiosity could have been a factor in the reboot's big ratings, and in the long run, there's no threat to the original's beloved status.