She may be a huge draw at the record stores and an attraction at music awards shows, but as far as dominating the airwaves on Thanksgiving, Taylor Swift has a long way to go.
The pop-country phenomenon’s NBC special “Speak Now,” a look at her new album juxtaposed with live performance footage, garnered a mere 1.2 adults 18-49 rating with 4.42 million viewers. Though the show can exclaim that its adults 18-49 demo grew by 30% from start-to-finish, no one at NBC or on ‘Team Swift’ should be bragging about that performance.
The show finished fourth in its timeslot behind the NFL overrun/”The Simpsons” movie on FOX, re-runs of CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory/$#*! My Dad Says” (1.6 rating, 6.21 million) and another airing of ABC’s “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” (1.5 rating, 4.99 million viewers).
Of course, Swift was not the only music superstar to disappoint on television. Though her 90 minute special drew slightly better in the demo, Beyonce’s “I Am…World Tour” was far from a runaway success.
Over the course of the broadcast, the ABC show garnered a 1.3 adults 18-49 rating with 4.13 million viewers.
For its part, it was behind re-runs of CBS” “Mike & Molly” and “The Mentalist” and FOX’s “The Simpsons Movie” (only for the first half or so) for a second/third place finish in the 9:30-11PM slot.