"Smash" Ratings Are Solid; Musical TV Series Off to a Promising Start

By Kenneth Jones
07 Feb 2012

Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee
Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

The critically acclaimed theatre-inspired TV series "Smash," in its pilot airing at 10 PM (ET) Feb. 6, was a ratings hit, earning 11.5 million total viewers and scoring high with viewers 18-49, according to affiliate estimates from Nielsen.

The hour-long drama-with-songs about the making of a Broadway musical was a hit with viewers age 18-49. In that demographic, the series created by Broadway playwright Theresa Rebeck was the highest-rated regular dramatic series episode (10 PM) on ABC, CBS or NBC this season, according to zap2it.com.

The last time NBC hit numbers this big with the 18-49 crowd (and in total viewers) was November 2008, when a "Saturday Night Live" election special aired.

For those who follow ratings points, "Smash" earned a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating (representing a 4.2 adults 18-49 rating in its first half hour, dropping to 3.4 in its second half hour). "Smash" boosted NBC's season average in the slot to 1.0.

It beat "Hawaii: Five-O" and "Castle" in the time slot.

Read the Playbill.com recap of the pilot episode of "Smash."