Puppy Magician’s Televised Escape Scores Record Nielsen Rating

Puppy magician Petunia the Stupendous set a broadcast TV record last night with her televised escape special on FOX. The special drew an audience of 34.5 million viewers in the United States, making it the third-most watched television event of the year, just edging out the Oscars. It was the most widely viewed non-human magic special in the history of American television, by a fairly large margin.

“The previous record was held by Skittles the Magnificent, a hamster whose 1997 retirement show in Vegas was watched by 9 million people on CBS,” said Nielsen representative Allayn Brice. “Petunia shattered that record.”

Petunia, who got her start breaking out of kennels as a puppy, has captured the imagination of the country. Her rags-to-riches story is itself quite magical, and people can’t seem to get enough of it.

In addition to last night’s hour-long special, the pup is reportedly working on a biographical documentary directed by Oliver Stone, and is consulting on Now You See Me 3. If you missed last night’s event, don’t worry – it did so well that FOX plans to rebroadcast it in August.

Via catch3.