One week before its annual telecast of the Academy Awards, ABC beat its rivals in key demos last night as its Disneyland anniversary special took top honors opposite competition that included NBC’s tribute to James Burrows.According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60” averaged a 1.8 rating/6 share in adults 18-49 and 6.8 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., standing as Sunday’s No. 1 broadcast in 18-49, 25-54 (2.2/6), 18-34 (1.3/5), teens 12-17 (1.0/5) and kids 2-11 (1.4/6). It gave the network its second highest ratings of the season in the time period, behind only its November telecast of the “American Music Awards.” The show peaked in 18-49 at 8:30 p.m. with a 1.9 and then finished at 9:30 p.m. with a 1.6.
Leading into the special, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” was up a tick (1.3/5 in 18-49, 6.3 million viewers overall), posting its season high. And closing out the night, a special original “Shark Tank” did a 1.2/4 in 18-49 and 4.0 million viewers overall. (ABC had originally scheduled its annual pre-Oscar special hosted by Robin Roberts for this slot, but has moved that to Friday at 10).
Elsewhere, NBC’s “Must See TV: A Tribute to James Burrows” averaged a 1.3/4 in 18-49 and 5.5 million viewers overall from 9 to 11 p.m., delivering a pretty consistent audience throughout and taking the 10 p.m. hour in 18-49 among the broadcasters. Compared with last week’s Jimmy Fallon special commemorating Valentine’s Day and his second anniversary as host of “The Tonight Show,” the Burrows tribute was down slightly in 18-49 but up about 400,000 in total viewers. Among the show casts honoring the legendary director were “Will & Grace,” “Cheers,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Friends.” Opening the night, a two-hour “Dateline” (1.2/4 in 18-49, 6.0 million viewers overall) posted its top Sunday rating since last March.
