‘Coat of Many Colors’ Hits 15.6 Million in 3-Day Ratings, Gets Christmas Encore on NBC

“Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors,” which drew a big audience for its premiere last week on NBC and padded its totals with a strong showing in three-day delayed viewing numbers, is getting an encore airing on the network Christmas night.

Nielsen estimates that the adults 18-49 rating for “Coat of Many Colors” spiked by 27% in “live plus-3” numbers, going from a 1.84 to 2.34, while its overall audience spiked by 20% from 13.03 million to 15.58 million. It stands as the top-rated movie on the broadcast networks in the demo in nearly five years (since CBS’ “The Lost Valentine” did a 2.4 in January 2011) and is the most-watched overall in more than six years (since “Jesse Stone: Thin Ice” drew 16.02 million on CBS in March 2009).

The 2.55-million lift in total viewers is the largest for any broadcast movie since Nielsen began tracking “live plus 3.” And it probably made the decision to repeat the movie an easy one for NBC. The replay of the faith-based movie is set for 9-11 p.m. ET/PT and 8-10 p.m. CT on Dec. 25.

NBC plans additional movies based on Dolly Parton songs, though it hasn’t released any titles or airdates.

The premiere of “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” drew 13.03 million viewers on Dec. 10, giving NBC its largest Thursday audience in the 9-11 p.m. timeslot (excluding live musicals and sports) since the series finale of “ER” in April 2009. The movie stars young actress Alyvia Alyn Lind of “The Young and the Restless” as a 9-year-old Parton growing up in the 1950s in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

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