Update: Friday’s “Descendants 2” premiere drew an impressive 5.3 million viewers on Disney Channel.
Disney Channel announced the news Saturday afternoon, noting that the broadcast was the most-watched Disney Channel program since the original “Descendants.”
Earlier Saturday, Headline Planet reported that the ABC simulcast averaged 1.7 million live+same-day viewers from 8-10:30PM.
The ABC and Disney Channel broadcasts thus combined for about 7 million viewers. Viewership averages for the Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime and Lifetime Movies simulcasts were not available at press time.
Even without those numbers, it is already clear that “Descendants 2” drew a larger premiere audience than 2015’s “Descendants.” That movie, which premiered exclusively on Disney Channel, drew 6.6 million live+same-day viewers.
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Friday night’s “Descendants 2” premiere aired concurrently across six networks: ABC, Disney Channel, Disney XD, Freeform, Lifetime and Lifetime Movies.
Live+same-day ratings for the latter five networks may not arrive until Monday afternoon.
Preliminary data for the ABC broadcast, however, arrived Saturday morning.
According to fast national data posted by Showbuzz, the ABC version of “Descendants 2” averaged a 0.4 adults 18-49 rating and 1.72 million overall viewers from 8-10:30PM.
The 8-9PM portion drew a 0.4 rating and 1.99 million. The 9PM hour followed with a 0.4 rating and 1.55 million, while the 10-10:30PM half-hour was good for a 0.4 rating and 1.51 million.
Data for youth and teen demographics was not available at press time.
One cannot fairly judge the “Descendants 2” performance until data for the other five simulcasts arrives (particularly that for Disney Channel).
The first “Descendants” film, which premiered exclusively on Disney Channel, drew a 1.4 rating and 6.55 million viewers on July 31, 2015.
Since “Descendants 2” aired across six networks (including a major broadcast network in ABC) and benefited from the passionate fanbase established by the first movie (some of whom became fans after the premiere), one can argue that its live+same-day numbers should have comfortably topped those of “Descendants.”
On the other hand, buzz seemed lighter than expected going into Friday’s premiere. Television viewership habits, moreover, continue to trend toward DVR and streaming. As such, it may be unreasonable to expect a big film-to-film increase.
— The ABC edition of “Descendants 2” led into a post-movie special, which drew a 0.3 rating and 1.12 million viewers.
