How 'The Sound of Music Live!' Pulled 18 Million Viewers and Rebuilt NBC

NBC's 'The Sound of Music Live!' drew more than 18 million viewers on December 5, 2013 — nearly double the 10 million the network had privately hoped for. The broadcast revived a form American television hadn't attempted in decades, and it became a cornerstone of NBC's comeback after Comcast took majority control of the network in January 2011.

The man behind the bet was Bob Greenblatt, the industry veteran who arrived to lead NBC Entertainment under Comcast's new ownership. NBC was, in his own framing of the era, in rough shape after the waning years under General Electric. Greenblatt's answer was to lean into the network's roots in big entertainment spectacles.

Those roots ran deep. In March 1955, NBC aired a live telecast of Mary Martin in her signature role in the beloved Comden and Green tuner 'Peter Pan.' Variety's report of March 9, 1955 noted that NBC's 'two-hour colorcast' walloped the competition, sending CBS's 'I Love Lucy' to an all-time low rating.

Greenblatt knew Broadway from the inside. He had produced '9 to 5: The Musical' with Dolly Parton in 2009, and that experience gave him the confidence to mount a live musical with veteran producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Carrie Underwood was cast as Maria; Stephen Moyer took on Capt. Von Trapp. The production was built on a Grumman Studios soundstage on Long Island and beamed live.

Why 'Sound of Music'?

Greenblatt credits the late Zadan and his longtime partner Meron with picking the right title to roll the dice on.

'They thought it could bring in a huge audience since it's beloved by adults and children and is constantly being produced all over the world,' Greenblatt says. 'We had no idea how to even produce a live musical or how we could market it since there hadn't been anything like it in decades. But everyone at the network got excited about it and came together to turn it into a powerhouse.'

Nobody — not even Greenblatt, Zadan or Meron — knew what NBC had until the opening minutes on December 5, 2013. Within minutes, fans ranging from Tina Fey to Cameron Diaz were posting on Twitter about the joy of singing along with the Rodgers and Hammerstein standard.

The production earned six Emmy nominations and one win, and it pushed the envelope on live music production for television.

What did the success change?

It greenlit four more live musicals during Greenblatt's tenure, which ended in the fall of 2018:

• 'Peter Pan Live,' starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken — December 2, 2014
• 'The Wiz Live,' starring Queen Latifah, David Alan Grier and Shanice Williams — December 3, 2015
• 'Hairspray Live,' starring Marissa Jaret Winokur and Derek Hough — December 7, 2016
• 'Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,' starring John Legend and Sara Bareilles — April 1, 2018, Easter Sunday

One project got away: a planned 'Bye Bye Birdie' toplined by Jennifer Lopez never came to fruition in 2017.

The strategy also reshaped the wider industry. Fox staged live renditions of 'Grease' in 2016 and 'Rent' in 2019 — imitation Greenblatt calls the sincerest form of flattery in TV.

'I was gratified that our big risk paid off, and I think the live musicals have become part of NBC's [modern] legacy alongside Must-See TV, Dick Wolf dramas and the Olympics,' Greenblatt says. 'The other networks jumped on board too, which was the best sign of success.'

He counts the five live musicals among his proudest accomplishments at the network. And the format isn't finished: 'At this very moment, I'm talking to NBC and ABC about producing a brand new live musical,' Greenblatt says. 'Long may they live!'