HEAVILY PROMOTED 'SMASH' DOES GOOD, NOT GREAT FOR NBC

Wednesday, February 08 2012 06:13

It remains to be seen whether or not NBC's $25 million worth of promotion will pay off for its new series, Smash. 11.5 million people tuned in for Monday night's premiere -- making it the biggest 10 p.m. rating of any drama this season and the largest audience for the network during the time slot in more than three years.

Despite that good news, the audience dropped off sharply from its lead-in, The Voice, which was watched by 17.7 million people.

Before the premiere, Katharine McPhee acknowledged that bringing good ratings was her main priority with Smash. She said that building her reputation from American Idol contestant to serious actress wasn't as important as having people tune in: "There's nothing wrong with knowing where you came from and where you got a stepping stone and that's really for me that's what it was. And for some people it's a massive launching pad and for me it's been a slow build. And I'm very appreciative of it and hopefully people will just see me as, well hopefully just watch the show, that's what I really hope."