Congrats, Greasers and Fox execs: “Grease: Live” is a big hit — but not as big as NBC’s recent “The Wiz” revival.
Fox’s Sunday night live musical effort earned a 7.4 rating/11 share in the 56 metered market households. “The Wiz Live” in December scored a 7.9/13.
National numbers can certainly tell a different tale, and these should be considered very preliminary indicators. Fast national ratings — and then final data — should be out within a few hours.
Comparisons between “Grease” and “The Wiz” are about as well as we can do at this point, though they’re admittedly imperfect. After all, last night’s musical was Fox’s first, whereas NBC got two tries before “The Wiz Live,” with “The Sound of Music Live” and “Peter Pan Live.”
Plus, NBC is currently still the top-rated broadcast network in the key 18-49 demographic — where it’s been for a few years now — and Fox sits in third place.
Either way, “Grease” was a resounding success, both quantifiably and critically. The live event was also massive on social media, and the cast’s album is selling quite well on iTunes already.