Source: network / network
According to the New York Times, “The Wiz Live!,” NBC’s latest live musical, scored strong ratings on Thursday night, easily beating last year’s live rendition of “Peter Pan.” The broadcast brought network television’s highest Thursday-night ratings in the key 18- to 49-year-old demographic, for a nonsporting event, in more than a year.
“The Wiz Live!” drew 11.5 million viewers, roughly 2.3 million more than “Peter Pan.” Roughly 4.3 million of those viewers were ages 18 to 49.
The numbers, however, are well short of NBC’s inaugural December musical, “The Sound of Music Live!” in 2013, which scored 18.6 million viewers.
Still, between the mostly warm reviews for “The Wiz Live!” and the ratings improvement over last year, NBC may be on a path to put on a fourth live musical next year.
“The Wiz Live!” featured performances from Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, David Alan Grier, Ne-Yo, Uzo Aduba and Common. A newcomer, Shanice Williams, played Dorothy.
Check out the encore showing of “The Wiz Live” on NBC, Saturday, December 19th at 8pm EST.
