TVbytheNumbers has published final Nielsen ratings for Sunday and "FOX's 25th Anniversary Special" averaged just 4.32 million viewers and a 1.8/5 A18-49 rating from 8-10PM. It ranked fourth in viewers but third in the demo, beating Harry's Law on NBC from 8-9PM and the first half of the latest Hallmark Hall of Fame telefilm, Firelight, on ABC from 9-10PM. Those are pretty sad numbers no matter how you look at them, particularly given the promotion FOX seems to have put behind the special. By comparison, "ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration" (broadcast in May of 2003) was seen by 11.4 million viewers and "CBS at 75" (broadcast in November of 2003), drew more than 18 million viewers and a 3.9/10 A18-49 rating.
Confession: I recorded but did not watch "FOX's 25th Anniversary Special" on Sunday.
I've actually watched the special as it aired and I wasn't impressed. The special either had reunions or focused on shows that ran longer than 5 seasons:
Married with Children
X-files
That 70's Show
In Living Colour
The Simpsons
The Family Guy
Most of these boring conversations could've been saved for the DVD releases. There was hardly any mention of other popular programs that were not fortunate enough to last longer than 2 or 3 seasons.
This special looked to me as rushed and uninspired.