Dolly Parton Specials Attract Summer TV Audience To Major Broadcasters

Several of the major broadcast networks paid tribute to Dolly Parton this week after the prolific singer died Tuesday at the age of 80.

ABC and CBS turned their specials around fairly quickly, going head-to-head in the 10 p.m. hour later that very same night, August 25.

ABC News‘ Dolly Parton: An American Original – Special Edition of 20/20 drew 4.05 million live + same-day viewers, making it the best non-sports 10 p.m. telecast on any network in 3 months (since May 13 with NBC’s season finale of Chicago P.D.), according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel.

Mid-May marked the end of the broadcast season. Summer audiences tend to be lighter across the major broadcast networks in the summer months since scripted original programming is scarce.

Disney also says its special ranked as the most-viewed title across Disney+ and Hulu when it landed on the streaming platforms the next day.

On CBS, Dolly Parton – An American Icon had an audience of 2.1 million. The one-hour special was available to stream next-day on Paramount+, but parent company Paramount Skydance has not released any performance numbers.

Dolly: An NBC News Special aired on NBC in the 9 p.m. hour on Wednesday, and final Nielsen data has not been made available for that one just yet. This post will be updated with those numbers when they become available.

The major broadcasters aren’t done honoring the late, great American icon, either. CBS has plans to air the Entertainment Tonight special Remembering Dolly: A Rhinestone Life on Sunday, August 30. Also on Sunday, ABC will air a special presentation of the 1980 comedy 9 to 5 followed by an encore of its news special.