
ABC
ABC's "The Little Mermaid Live!" didn't flounder in Tuesday's primetime Nielsen ratings in comparison to the other live (and semi-live) TV musicals that came before it. And yes, that includes the most-recent and lowest-rated event, Fox's "Rent."
Last night's broadcast -- which cut between the 1989 animated film and live performances by the cast, including "Moana" star Auli'i Cravalho as Ariel and Queen Latifah as Ursula -- came in at No. 4 on the list of modern-day, live TV musicals ranked by their ratings among the key adults 18-49 demo. What makes that impressive slot even more impressive for "Little Mermaid" is that it was ABC's first foray into the genre since its rebirth, with all the other specials having aired on Fox or NBC.
Scroll through our gallery to see how each of broadcast TV's modern-day, live musical productions rank by Nielsen numbers. Lowest-rated is first, highest-rated is last.
Also Read: ‘The Little Mermaid Live’ Ratings Blows Fox’s ‘Rent’ Numbers Out of the Sea

Fox
Rank: 10Musical: "Rent" Date: January 27, 2019 Network: Fox 18-49 rating: 1.4 Total viewers: 3.415 million
Also Read: Ratings: Fox’s Semi-Live ‘Rent’ Is TV’s Least-Watched Live Musical

Fox
Rank: 9Musical: "A Christmas Story: Live" Date: Dec. 17, 2017 Network: Fox 18-49 rating: 1.5 Total viewers: 4.481 million
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Fox
Rank: 8Musical: "The Passion" Date: March 20, 2016 Network: Fox 18-49 rating: 1.6 Total viewers: 6.648 million
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NBC
Rank: 7Musical: "Jesus Christ Superstar Live!" Date: April 1, 2018 Network: NBC 18-49 rating: 1.7 Total viewers: 9.607 million
Also Read: Chrissy Teigen Smites Bill O’Reilly With Fiery Comeback After ‘Jesus Christ Superstar Live’ Diss

NBC
Rank: 6Musical: "Hairspray Live!" Date: Dec. 7, 2016 Network: NBC 18-49 rating: 2.3 Total viewers: 9.045 million
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NBC
Rank: 5Musical: "Peter Pan Live!" Date: Dec. 4, 2014 Network: NBC 18-49 rating: 2.4 Total viewers: 9.211 million
Also Read: 7 New Midseason TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers: From ‘Masked Singer’ to ‘Schooled’ (Photos)

ABC
Rank: 4Musical: "The Little Mermaid Live!" Date: Nov. 5, 2019Network: ABC 18-49 rating: 2.6 Total viewers: 8.978 million
Also Read: ‘The Little Mermaid Live’ Ratings Blows Fox’s ‘Rent’ Numbers Out of the Sea

NBC
Rank: 3 Musical: "The Wiz Live!" Date: Dec. 3, 2015 Network: NBC 18-49 rating: 3.4 Total viewers: 11.498 million
Also Read: Ratings: ‘The Conners’ Season Finale Grows 15 Percent, But ‘This Is Us’ Tops Tuesday

Fox
Rank: 2 Musical: "Grease: Live" Date: Jan. 1, 2016 Network: Fox 18-49 rating: 4.3 Total viewers: 12.206 million
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NBC
Rank: 1 Musical: "Sound of Music Live!" Date: Dec. 5, 2013 Network: NBC 18-49 rating: 4.6 Total viewers: 18.624 million
Also Read: Ratings: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Slips 25 Percent From NBC Debut

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
There is currently no upcoming live TV musical set at any of the broadcast networks, after rock opera "Hair" was scrapped by NBC last February.