‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Tops Easter Sunday TV Ratings

NBC’s live production of Jesus Christ Superstar Live proved to be an Easter miracle for the network.

NBC’s live broadcast of the 1971 Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Sunday night posted a 6.0 overnight rating/10 share in the 56 metered-markets monitored by Nielsen, according to The Wrap. Those numbers were not only enough to beat out ABC’s American Idol reboot, but also earned the network that timeslot’s top rating in three years, excluding sports broadcasts and the Golden Globes.

The high rating also beats out other recent live musicals, including Fox’s A Christmas Story Live, which scored a 2.8 overnight rating/5 share. It managed to tie NBC‘s Hairspray Live, which also earned a 6.0 overnight rating/10 share when it aired on December 7, 2016.

Jesus Christ Superstar Live starred John Legend as Jesus Christ, Alice Cooper as King Herod, Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas, and Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene. It was executive produced by creators Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Though the production was staged at the Mercy Armory in Brooklyn before a live audience, viewers on the West Coast were disappointed to discover that they would not be able to watch the performance in real time. The broadcast started at 8 p.m. ET on time, instead of airing it at 5 p.m. PT, with the peacock taping it to air three hours later.

This model was not new for NBC. When the network began its current series of live musical programs with The Sound of Music in 2013, it was also aired on a delay on the West Coast.

The production followed in the footsteps of previous live NBC productions The Sound of Music Live!, Peter Pan Live!, The Wiz Live! and Hairspray Live!.

The original musical was a Broadway hit, earning Tony nominations for Ben Vereen’s performance as Judas and Best Score. It was most recently revived on Broadway in 2012.