The Little Mermaid Live! Makes a Splash with Strong Ratings on ABC

ABC took TV viewers under the sea on November 5 with a star-packed musical presentation titled The Little Mermaid Live! The telecast was watched by nine million viewers, an increase from TV's most recent live musical, Fox's Rent Live, which was seen by just 3.4 million viewers, and slightly less than last year's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert on NBC, which played to 9.6 million musical lovers. NBC's The Sound of Music Live!, which marked the resurgence of live TV musicals, is still the best performing, having played to 18.6 million viewers.

The Little Mermaid Live! featured a company of stars from stage and screen, including Auli'i Cravalho in the central role of mermaid Ariel, with Queen Latifah as Ursula, Shaggy as Sebastian, Graham Phillips as Prince Eric, John Stamos as Chef Louis and Amber Riley as the emcee. The evening was highlighted by a surprise appearance by original Little Mermaid voice star Jodi Benson. The intention of the show, which combined footage from the movie with live musical performances, was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original animated film.

While another live television musical has yet to be announced, a live-action major motion picture remake of The Little Mermaid is currently in the works.

A full list of ratings for past TV musicals can be found below.
NBC's Sound of Music Live (2013): 18.6 million
Fox's Grease Live (2016): 12.2 million
NBC's The Wiz Live (2015): 11.5 million
NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live (2018): 9.6 million
NBC's Peter Pan Live (2014): 9.2 million
NBC's Hairspray Live (2017): 9.1 million
ABC's The Little Mermaid Live! (2019): 9.0 million
Fox's The Passion (2016): 6.6 million
Fox's The Rocky Horror Picture Show (2016): 5 million
Fox's A Christmas Story Live! (2017): 4.5 million
Fox's Rent Live (2019): 3.4 million