TV Ratings: Adele Concert Special Goes Platinum for NBC, Biggest TV Concert in a Decade

The singer's Radio City event scores huge in the key demo, besting any concert special in recent memory. Adele Live in New York City  Virginia Sherwood/NBC

The singer's Radio City event scores huge in the key demo, besting any concert special in recent memory.

The fruits of NBC's love affair with Adele reached a crescendo on Monday night. The network's highly anticipated concert special featuring the record-setting singer made its debut after an episode of The Voice.

At 10 o'clock, Adele Live in New York City averaged an impressive 3.0 rating among adults 18-49 and 11.3 million viewers. The last primetime concert special to pull in such a strong showing with adults 18-49 was in 2005 with — wait for it — the Eagles Farewell Tour. Adele was also barely down at all from the Voice lead-in, the highest-rated series of the night, which averaged a 3.2 rating in the key demo.

It appears that NBC's big bet on Adele paid off. Concert and holiday specials don't often move the dial with younger viewers, but the singer's hot streak clearly bucked that trend. Her concert, taped at Radio City Music Hall in November, comes on the heels of similarly successful appearances on Saturday Night Live, Tonight and Today.  


The rest of the pack, at least those airing originals, were largely in line with last week. Supergirl (1.5 adults) and NCIS: Los Angeles (1.4 adults) were steady on either side of a lifted Scorpion. The CBS drama was up two-tenths of a point to a 1.9 rating among adults 18-49. 

On ABC, The Great Christmas Light Fight (1.3 adults) held with its premiere, while early scores for The Great Holiday Baking Show (1.1 adults) have it up by two-tenths of a point.TV Ratings

Michael O'Connell