"Grease" will be the word in the halls of Fox this week. The network's three-hour live telecast of the musical was a ratings success.
Nielsen has the performance averaging 12.2 million viewers and a handsome 4.3 rating among adults 18-49. That's after early numbers gave the performance a 7.4 overnight rating among households. Fox easily had first-place status on broadcast for the night and saw its score in the key demo rival TV's biggest live musical in recent memory.
This being the network's first live musical, its only ratings comparisons will be to NBC's last three efforts. Topping the first of them, 2013's "The Sound of Music Live," was an all-but-impossible task. The show attracted 18.3 million live viewers and a 4.6 rating with adults 18-49 after an initial 10.9 overnight rating among households. 2014 follow-up "Peter Pan" sunk, but December's "The Wiz" rebounded a bit with 11 million viewers.
Heading into Sunday night, falling in the ratings vicinity of "The Wiz" was the most realistic best-case scenario for "Grease."
Based on ratings alone, Fox certainly has the motivation to make musicals an annual event as well — though, the general critical response sets an intimidatingly high bar. Director Thomas Kail, of "Hamilton" fame, brought quick praise for putting "Grease" on multiple soundstages and outdoor areas in front of a live audience.
CBS was the only network with all-original competition for Fox. The network aired new episodes of "60 Minutes" (1.1 adults), "Madam Secretary" (1.1 adults), "The Good Wife" (1.0 adults) and "CSI: Cyber" (1.0 adults). NBC had a special outing of "American Ninja Warrior," which nabbed a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49.
On ABC, a new "Galavant" fetched a 0.6 rating in the key demo.
SEE ALSO: The hit 'Grease: Live' musical was full of surprise cameos — from Boyz II Men to Joe Jonas
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