Under Bob Greenblatt, NBC revived live musical television with 'The Sound of Music Live' in 2013, drawing over 18 million viewers and sparking a trend that other networks followed.
01Summary
- 01NBC's 'The Sound of Music Live' aired on 5 December 2013, starring Carrie Underwood and Stephen Moyer.
- 02The production drew 18 million viewers, far exceeding the network's internal expectation of 10 million.
- 03Under Greenblatt, NBC produced four more live musicals: 'Peter Pan Live' (2014), 'The Wiz Live' (2015), 'Hairspray Live' (2016), and 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live' (2018).
- 04A planned 2017 production of 'Bye Bye Birdie' starring Jennifer Lopez never materialised.
- 05Fox staged live renditions of 'Grease' in 2016 and 'Rent' in 2019, inspired by NBC's success.
02Why it matters
This story highlights how a risky programming gamble revitalised NBC's schedule and influenced the wider television industry, showing the potential of live event broadcasting to draw large audiences.
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