NBC’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Beat ‘American Idol’ in Early Ratings

By Joe Otterson, Variety
Published April 2, 2018, 10:59 a.m. ET

NBC’s live staging of Jesus Christ Superstar is among the top shows of Sunday night in the early Nielsen numbers.

The live musical, which starred John Legend in the title role, averaged a 6.0 rating in Nielsen’s metered market households. That is good enough to tie with 60 Minutes on CBS in households as well as top ABC’s American Idol, which drew a 4.5. It is also on par with the 5.9 that NBC’s last live musical, Hairspray Live, drew back in 2016. Hairspray Live ultimately drew a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49 and just over 9 million viewers, making it one of the lower-rated live broadcast musicals to date.

Jesus Christ Superstar ended at 10:23 p.m. ET, meaning that these numbers will be subject to adjustment later today.

More to come…

How to stream Jesus Christ Superstar