When NBC aired The Sound of Music Live on Dec. 5, 2013, the internal target was clear: reach at least 10 million viewers. The actual number passed 18 million. That gap, more than the spectacle itself, changed how the network approached event programming.
Bob Greenblatt had taken over NBC Entertainment after Comcast became NBC’s majority owner in January 2011. The network needed a reset, and he bet on the kind of live, crowd-pleasing specials that once defined broadcast television. NBC’s history already included a landmark 1955 Mary Martin Peter Pan telecast; in Variety’s contemporaneous reporting, it sent CBS’s I Love Lucy to an all-time low rating.
The number that reset the network
Greenblatt credits producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for choosing The Sound of Music. “They thought it could bring in a huge audience since it’s beloved by adults and children and is constantly being produced all over the world,” Greenblatt said. Carrie Underwood starred as Maria, Stephen Moyer played Captain von Trapp, and the production was beamed live from a Grumman Studios soundstage on Long Island.
Within minutes of air, the show became a social event as much as a ratings one. Fans including Tina Fey and Cameron Diaz joined the conversation on Twitter. The final tally—more than 18 million viewers—was well past internal hopes and proved that appointment viewing could still work at network scale.
One hit became a slate
The result gave NBC cover to build a franchise. During Greenblatt’s tenure, the network delivered four more live musicals:
- Peter Pan Live (Dec. 2, 2014), with Allison Williams and Christopher Walken
- The Wiz Live (Dec. 3, 2015), with Queen Latifah, David Alan Grier and Shanice Williams
- Hairspray Live (Dec. 7, 2016), with Marissa Jaret Winokur and Derek Hough
- Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert (April 1, 2018), with John Legend and Sara Bareilles
A planned Bye Bye Birdie with Jennifer Lopez never materialized in 2017, but the format was already proven. The Sound of Music Live earned six Emmy nominations and one win. Fox later staged its own live versions of Grease (2016) and Rent (2019).
What media planners should take away
For entertainment marketers and buyers, the NBC run is a case study in event-led brand rehabilitation. The network did not just schedule a special; it set a benchmark, over-delivered against it, and used that evidence to justify a multi-year slate. Live musicals also gave advertisers a rare asset in a fragmented landscape: a live, family-skewing broadcast audience assembled at a single time.
Greenblatt says the format is not finished. “At this very moment, I’m talking to NBC and ABC about producing a brand new live musical,” he said. “Long may they live!” If those discussions lead to a green light, the next live title will face a far more crowded streaming market—but the 2013 number remains the standard to beat.
Source: Variety
