In the metered market overnight ratings, last night’s Saturday Night Live scored a 6-year best (since Jan. 2011) 7.2 household rating and a 3.6 rating in the A18-49 demo. The demo rating makes SNL the No. 1 entertainmnet show of the week, including prime time programs. Last night’s episode was the show’s best demo performance since the first show after the election, the Nov. 12, 2016 edition hosted by Dave Chappelle.
The Donald Trump administration featured prominently in last night’s show. From Melissa McCarthy reprising her role as White House press secretary Sean Spicer in the Cold Open; to 17-time host Alec Baldwin taking his Donald Trump character to The People’s Court; to a rather dark sketch in which Kate McKinnon, playing Kellyanne Conway stalks Beck Bennett‘s Jake Tapper, Fatal Attraction-style.
Versus the same period last year, SNL originals are up +19 percent in the A18-49 demo (3.46 vs. 2.92) and up nearly 2 million total viewers (10.6 million vs. 8.69 million).
The 10.6 million viewer average (Live +7 day) gives SNL its most-watched season in 22 years (since 1994-95 when the show averaged 10.62M for that season’s first 11 originals).