It doesn’t look like many viewers were feeling the seasons of love. Despite heavy promotion, FOX’s airing of Rent Live! hit a ratings low for televised live musicals.
The broadcast finished with a 1.4 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic and 3.42 million viewers in early numbers, marking the lowest-rated of the broadcast networks’ musical event shows. The good news for FOX is that the three-hour adaptation won in the demo in every half-hour (and was No. 1 in adults 18-34 and teen metrics) on a night littered with original and repeat programming, tying ABC for the demo win. CBS won in viewers.
The live telecast hit a snag earlier in the day on Sunday when star Brennin Hunt, who played struggling musician Roger, broke his foot during a dress rehearsal. The telecast had to revert to mostly rehearsal footage due to his sudden injury.
The numbers for Rent! fell short of the previous low for a musical broadcast: FOX’s own A Christmas Story Live!, notched a 1.5 rating and 4.48 million viewers in December 2017. The most recent musical, NBC’s 2 1/2-hour Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert, won Easter Sunday 2018 in primetime with 9.6 million total viewers and a 1.7 rating in adults 18-49 in Live+Same Day.
