But that was definitely a factor
ABC’s “Disney Family Singalong” had plenty of Disney magic — and viewers. The wonderful April 16 special’s wonderful TV ratings, when combined with the general lack of original programming left for any network due to the coronavirus, made fast-tracking a followup a no-brainer.
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Click Here Already a subscriber? LoginIn Live + Same Day viewing, the initial special on Thursday, April 16 scored a 2.6 rating/13 share among adults 18-49 and 10.4 million total viewers, according to Nielsen. Those very strong returns in today’s heavily fragmented — and heavily delayed — television-viewing environment made the singalong TV’s highest-rated show on any network since ABC’s Oscar telecast, which aired on Feb. 9.
After three days of (mostly) DVR viewing, the celebrity-packed event’s Nielsen numbers rose to a 3.2 rating/15 share and 12.2 million viewers. That’s growth of +23% in the key demographic and +17% in overall eyeballs.
Also Read: 'Parks and Rec' Reunion Zooms to Thursday's Top Ratings Spot
With a full week of delayed viewing factored in, the first “Disney Family Singalong” charted a 3.4/16 and 12.7 million viewers. And that’s not even counting viewership on the Disney+ streaming service.
“Disney Family Singalong” migrated to Disney+ on April 21. Eight days later, ABC announced a second “Family Singalong” special. The Walt Disney Company does not report viewership statistics for its subscription streaming services.
Also Read: ABC Isn't Gonna Party Like It's 1999 With These 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' Ratings
Among kids, which counts individuals ages 2 to 11, the singalong is tied in both Live + 3 Day ratings and Live + 7 Day ratings for the highest-rated primetime telecast of the entire TV season, which dates back to mid-September. Appropriately, the special is tied with ABC’s “Wonderful World of Disney: Little Mermaid Live!” special from November.
There is a smidge of an asterisk with that “highest-rated” qualifier: The post-Super Bowl episode of Fox’s “The Masked Singer” technically has a higher rating than those two Disney Princess-heavy specials, but that’s to be expected. The show airing immediately after the highest-rated television show of the year always posts a massive audience number. That fact is almost a disqualifier for fair comparisons.
Among teens, individuals 12-17, the “Disney Family Singalong” ranks fifth for the whole season, behind only that “Masked Singer” episode, the Grammys, the Oscars and the 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. hour of ABC’s New Year’s Eve countdown show.
Also Read: Disney+ in May: Here's Everything New, Including 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Finale
So yeah, we’d greenlight a second singalong immediately, too — especially if our reserve of original programming was dwindling down to basically zero with the ability to restart production nowhere in sight. Add in how relatively cheap it is to produce one of these Disney Family Singalongs, which essentially requires a few iPhones and Ryan Seacrest’s kitchen.
ABC’s followup, “The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II” is set to premiere on Sunday, May 10 at 7/6c. Happy Mother’s Day, especially to “American Idol,” which gets a great lead-in in lieu of flowers. Some number of days, later it too will join the Disney+ library.
“The Disney Family Singalong: Volume II” is produced by Done+Dusted. Executive producers include Done+Dusted’s Hamish Hamilton, Katy Mullan and Raj Kapoor.
Spring TV 2020: Premiere Dates for New and Returning Shows (Photos)
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Showtime/Netflix/ABC/AppleSpring has been sprung for quite a while now and with the changing of the seasons came the changing of many channels as a slew of new shows began to premiere. In honor of the months that bring showers and flowers, TheWrap has rounded up the start dates for not just the new and returning shows on Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and The CW, but also the ones for the eagerly-anticipated series hitting cable channels and streaming services this spring. Click through our gallery to find out when your favorite spring shows will be back and when your (possible) new favorites will debut.
Also Read: Fall TV 2020: Every Broadcast Show Canceled, Renewed and Ordered – So Far (Updating)
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FoxSeries: "Celebrity Watch Party" Net: Fox Premiere Date: Thursday, May 7 Time: 8 p.m.
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Netflix
Series: "The Eddy" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Friday, May 8 Time: N/A
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Hulu
Series: "Solar Opposites" Net: Hulu Premiere Date: Friday, May 8 Time: N/A
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Netflix
Series: "Dead to Me" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Friday, May 8 Time: N/A
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HBO
Series: "I Know This Much Is True" Net: HBO Premiere Date: Sunday, May 10 Time: 9 p.m.
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TBS
Series: "The Misery Index" Net: TBS Premiere Date: Thursday, May 14 Time: 10:30 p.m.
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Hulu
Series: "The Great" Net: Hulu Premiere Date: Friday, May 15 Time: N/A
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Netflix
Series: "She-Ra and the Princess of Power" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Friday, May 15 Time: N/A
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Discovery
Series: "Bering Sea Gold" Net: Discovery Premiere Date: Friday, May 15 Time: 8 p.m.
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Starz
Series: "Hightown" Net: Starz Premiere Date: Sunday, May 17 Time: 8 p.m.
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TNT
Series: "Snowpiercer" Net: TNT Premiere Date: Sunday, May 17 Time: 9 p.m.
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Netflix
Series: "The Big Flower Fight" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Monday, May 18 Time: N/A
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DC Universe
Series: "Stargirl" Net: DC Universe Premiere Date: Monday, May 18 Time: N/A
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The CW
Series: "The 100" Net: The CW Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 20 Time: 8 p.m.
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Lifetime
Series: "Married at First Sight: Couples Cam" Net: Lifetime Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 20 Time: 8 p.m.
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Fox
Series: "Ultimate Tag" Net: Fox Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 20 Time: 9 p.m.
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CNBC
Series: "Jay Leno's Garage" Net: CNBC Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 20 Time: 10 p.m.
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The CW
Series: "Burden of Truth" Net: The CW Premiere Date: Thursday, May 21 Time: 8 p.m.
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Fox
Series: "Labor of Love" Net: Fox Premiere Date: Thursday, May 21 Time: 9 p.m.
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ABC
Series: "Holey Moley" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Thursday, May 21 Time: 9 p.m.
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ABC
Series: "To Tell the Truth" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Thursday, May 21 Time: 10 p.m.
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Netflix
Series: "Selling Sunset" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: May, 22 Time: N/A
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Amazon Prime Video
Series: "Homecoming" Net: Amazon Prime Video Premiere Date: Friday, May 22 Time: N/A
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Discovery
Series: "Naked & Afraid XL" Net: Discovery Premiere Date: Sunday, May 24 Time: 8 p.m.
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NBC
Series: "The Titan Games" Net: NBC Premiere Date: Monday, May 25 Time: 8 p.m.
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NBC
Series: "America's Got Talent" Net: NBC Premiere Date: Tuesday, May 26 Time: 8 p.m.
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NBC
Series: "World of Dance" Net: NBC Premiere Date: Tuesday, May 26 Time: 10 p.m.
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HBO Max
Series: "Craftopia" Net: HBO Max Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: N/A
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HBO Max
Series: "Legendary" Net: HBO Max Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: N/A
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HBO Max
Series: "Looney Tunes Cartoons" Net: HBO Max Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: N/A
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HBO Max
Series: "The Not Too Late Show With Elmo" Net: HBO Max Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: N/A
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HBO Max
Series: "Love Life" Net: HBO Max Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: N/A
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CBS
Series: "Game On!" Net: CBS Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: 8 p.m.
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ABC
Series: "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Wednesday, May 27 Time: 10 p.m.
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Apple TV+
Series: "Central Park" Net: Apple TV+ Premiere Date: Friday, May 29 Time: N/A
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Netflix
Series: "Space Force" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Friday, May 29 Time: N/A
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Hulu
Series: "Ramy" Net: Hulu Premiere Date: Friday, May 29 Time: N/A
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ABC
Series: "Celebrity Family Feud" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Sunday, May 31 Time: 8 p.m.
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ABC
Series: "Press Your Luck" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Sunday, May 31 Time: 9 p.m.
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ABC
Series: "Match Game" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Sunday, May 31 Time: 10 p.m.
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AMC
Series: "Quiz" Net: AMC Premiere Date: Sunday, May 31 Time: 10 p.m.
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TLC
Series: "90 Day Fiance: The Other Way" Net: TLC Premiere Date: Monday, June 1 Time: 9 p.m.
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AMC/BBC America
Series: "NOS4A2" Net: AMC/BBC America Premiere Date: Monday, June 1 Time: 10 p.m.
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Netflix
Series: "Fuller House" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Tuesday, June 2 Time: N/A
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ABC
Series: "The Bachelor: The Most Unforgettable - Ever!" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Tuesday, June 2 Time: 8 p.m.
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USA Network
Series: "Dirty John" Net: USA Network Premiere Date: Tuesday, June 2 Time: 9 p.m.
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Showtime
Series: "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars" Net: Showtime Premiere Date: Friday, June 5 Time: 8 p.m.
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HBO
Series: "I May Destroy You" Net: HBO Premiere Date: Sunday, June 7 Time: 10:30 p.m.
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Spectrum
Series: "L.A.'s Finest" Net: Spectrum Premiere Date: Monday, June 8 Time: N/A
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ABC
Series: "Don't" Net: ABC Premiere Date: Thursday, June 11 Time: 9 p.m.
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Netflix
Series: "Pokemon Journeys The Series" Net: Netflix Premiere Date: Friday, June 12 Time: N/A
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Hulu
Series: "Love, Victor" Net: Hulu Premiere Date: Friday, June 19 Time: N/A
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Hulu
Series: "Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi" Net: Hulu Premiere Date: Friday, June 19 Time: N/A
Here’s when 53 broadcast, cable and streaming series debut and come back
Spring has been sprung for quite a while now and with the changing of the seasons came the changing of many channels as a slew of new shows began to premiere. In honor of the months that bring showers and flowers, TheWrap has rounded up the start dates for not just the new and returning shows on Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and The CW, but also the ones for the eagerly-anticipated series hitting cable channels and streaming services this spring. Click through our gallery to find out when your favorite spring shows will be back and when your (possible) new favorites will debut.
Also Read: Fall TV 2020: Every Broadcast Show Canceled, Renewed and Ordered – So Far (Updating)
Tony Maglio
TV Editor • tony.maglio@thewrap.com • Twitter: @tonymaglio