With increased competition and a general downward trend in live viewing, television specials tend to feel, well, less special with each passing year. There are still quite a few annual must-see live-TV hours — and no, we’re not even talking about sports (for this one).
From the Oscars to the Emmys and everything toward the top, TheWrap ranked the 15 most-watched broadcast-television entertainment specials of 2017. And with those very low Nielsen ratings out of Fox’s “A Christmas Story Live,” we’ve got no musicals making the cut this time.
Scroll through the gallery for the 15 biggest.
Rank: 1
Special: Oscars
Date: February 26, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: ABC
Total Viewers: 32.937 million
Rank: 2
Special: Grammys
Date: February 12, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: CBS
Total Viewers: 26.071 million
Rank: 3
Special: Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade
Date: November 23, 2017
Day of Week: Thursday
Network: NBC
Total Viewers: 24.060 million
Rank: 4
Special: Oscars Red Carpet (8 p.m.)
Date: February 26, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: ABC
Total Viewers: 20.892 million
Rank: 5
Special: Golden Globes
Date: January 8, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: NBC
Total Viewers: 20.014 million
Rank: 6
Special: Carol Burnett 50th Anniversary Special
Date: December 3, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: CBS
Total Viewers: 15.366 million
Rank: 7
Special: Oscars Red Carpet (7:30 p.m.)
Date: February 26, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: ABC
Total Viewers: 15.279 million
Rank: 8
Special: Country Music Awards
Date: November 8, 2017
Day of Week: Wednesday
Network: ABC
Total Viewers: 14.278 million
Rank: 9
Special: National Dog Show
Date: November 23, 2017
Day of Week: Thursday
Network: NBC
Total Viewers: 11.556 million
Rank: 10
Special: Oscars Red Carpet (7 p.m.)
Date: February 26, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: ABC
Total Viewers: 11.460 million
Rank: 11
Special: Emmys
Date: September 17, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: CBS
Total Viewers: 11.394 million
Rank: 12
Special: Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards
Date: April 2, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: CBS
Total Viewers: 10.911 million
Rank: 13
Special: “Stayin’ Alive – A Grammys Salute to The Bee Gees”
Date: April 16, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: CBS
Total Viewers: 10.313 million
Rank: 14
Special: Grammys Red Carpet
Date: February 12, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: CBS
Total Viewers: 10.067 million
Rank: 15
Special: American Music Awards
Date: November 19, 2017
Day of Week: Sunday
Network: ABC
Total Viewers: 9.160 million
Honorable Mentions: NBC’s Matt Lauer-less “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (pictured) and ABC’s “Billboard Music Awards” also averaged more than 8 million total viewers this year. Beat THAT, 2018.
