Following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman Friday, ABC aired “Black Panther” and a tribute to Boseman on Sunday night.
Both programs scored big numbers for the Disney-owned network, as viewers tuned in to see the likes of fellow “Avengers” stars Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Winston Duke, Mark Ruffalo, and Paul Rudd discuss the significant legacy that Boseman has left behind.
In total, 6.1 million viewers watched “Black Panther,” delivering a Sunday night-high 1.4 rating for the Disney-owned network. The remembrance special “A Tribute For a King,” followed with a 1.1 rating and 4.7 million viewers, the second largest tally on the night.
The tribute also featured words from Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Marvel chief Kevin Feige, Disney’s Bob Iger, and Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr., who said Boseman’s passing has left “a void now.”
“He was having this immense success, in a strata of his own, humble hardworking, always smile on his face,” Downey said of Boseman. “‘Black Panther’ was hands down the crowning achievement of the marvel universe. The one where people got to vote with ticket sales we require this. It is a fantastic movie that leveled the playing field.”
Elsewhere on the night, CBS came in a tie for second, with “Big Brother” ticking down from its last Sunday showing to a 0.9 rating and 3.8 million viewers. “Love Island” followed that with a 0.3 rating and 1.5 million viewers, even on its previous episode. Earlier in the night, a new edition of “60 Minutes” drew 6.1 million viewers and scored a 0.5 rating. An “NCIS: New Orleans” replay rounded things off with a 0.2 and just under 2 million viewers.
That tie for second was with NBC, which was dominated by sports coverage on Sunday night. An overrun of PGA BMA Golf Championship scored a 0.6 rating and 3.7 million viewers, while later on coverage of the NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Islanders scored a 0.5 rating and 1.6 million viewers. A “Cannonball” replay delivered a 0.4 rating and 1.8 million viewers in between the two.
The CW aired the MTV Video Music Awards, which scored a 0.2 rating and 758,000 viewers for the network. The full VMA ratings picture will become clearer when the numbers for the other networks that carried it become available.
Fox aired reruns of its Animation Domination Sunday lineup, all of which scored a 0.2 rating. “The Simpsons” led the way in terms of total viewership with 809,000, followed by “Family Guy” with 774,000 and then “Bob’s Burgers” with 680,000.
Univision averaged a 0.3 rating across the night, with back-to-back episodes of the Mexican version of “Masked Singer” averaging a 0.4 rating and around 1.3 million viewers.