NBC has renewed its heavily-hyped musical drama “Smash” for a second season.
The show, which premiered the Monday after the Super Bowl, chronicles the making of a Broadway musical and was the first series developed for the network by new NBC Entertainment head Robert Greenblatt.
“Smash” was heavily promoted before its premiere, with NBC spending $25 million to market the show, according to sources.
The pilot also reportedly cost $7 million. Despite strong ratings for that first show, viewership dropped off for subsequent episodes.
However, “Smash” is still a hit for NBC. The show ranks as the network’s highest-rated drama in adults 18-49 (2.6 rating) and total viewers (7.7 million). Ratings are also up 160 percent among viewers 18-49 versus NBC’s season average in the 10 p.m.-11 p.m. hour this season prior to “Smash’s” debut, and in total viewers, “Smash” has improved ratings in the time period by 100 percent.
The show, which stems from an idea by executive producer Steven Spielberg, stars Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, Megan Hilty, Anjelica Huston, Christian Borle and Jack Davenport.