- Don't count on broadcast networks' live musical events going away anytime soon, as Fox (FOX -4.5%, FOXA -3.9%) has nailed a hit with its production of Grease: Live this week.
- In live-plus-three-day viewing, the live musical grew from initial estimates to total 14.6M viewers. That's a strong gain from 12.2M first-day viewers, as delayed views on VOD, Hulu and Fox Now (somewhat ironically) pumped up the live show's initial total.
- It also beat NBC's (NASDAQ:CMCSA) latest production, The Wiz, which drew about 11.1M total viewers in December (though The Wiz was up against NFL football). NBC has pioneered the investment in big-production live musical events, drawing millions to watch The Sound of Music Live, Peter Pan and The Wiz.
- Fox will encore Grease: Live on March 27 -- Easter Sunday -- and is also working on Tyler Perry's biblical The Passion for March, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show later this year.
- Previously: NBC sets 'The Wiz' as next live musical event (Mar. 30 2015)