"SNL" DELIVERS ITS TOP WEEK 3 RATING IN EIGHT YEARS IN METERED-MARKET HOUSEHOLDS

In Late-Night Metered-Market Ratings for Saturday Night:

· The Oct. 15 telecast of "Saturday Night Live" has scored the show's highest Week 3 rating in eight years in Nielsen's metered markets.

· Last night's "Saturday Night Live," with host Emily Blunt and musical guest Bruno Mars, generated a 5.0 rating, 12 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 2.3/12 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

· The Oct. 15 "Saturday Night Live" earned the show's highest household rating for a third telecast of a new season since the Sept. 27, 2008 edition, hosted by Anna Faris with musical guest Duffy, which scored a 6.0 rating.

· In adult 18-49 results in the 25 markets with local people meters, last night's 2.3 for "Saturday Night Live" was the show's highest Week 3 rating since Oct. 12, 2013 (2.3 with host Bruce Willis and musical guest Katy Perry). The last time "SNL" rated higher in 18-49 with a Week 3 edition was on Oct. 8, 2011 (2.6 with host Ben Stiller and musical guest Foster The People).

· Last night's telecast is up +19% versus the show's October 2015 average for originals in metered-market households (5.0 vs. 4.2) and up +15% in 18-49 in the local people meters (2.3 vs. 2.0 for October 2015).

· National ratings, including viewer totals, for last night's "Saturday Night Live" are due from Nielsen on Tuesday.

· The show's Oct. 1 season premiere, hosted by Margot Robbie and featuring musical guest The Weeknd, as well as the first appearance by Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump, averaged a 5.8 rating, 15 share in metered-market households and a 2.7 rating, 14 share in 18-49 in the local people meters, best for a season premiere in households since Sept. 13, 2008 with host Michael Phelps, musical guest Lil Wayne and Tina Fey as Gov. Sarah Palin (7.5).

· Note that "SNL" adds significant viewership via time-shifting, with that Oct. 1 season premiere growing by +3.897 million viewers overall going from "live plus same day" to "live plus seven day" official-national Nielsens (8.297 million to 12.194 million) and by +64% in national adult 18-49 rating (2.34 to 3.84). That made it the most-watched "SNL" debut in 22 years (since Sept. 24, 1994, 12.201 viewers with host Steve Martin and musical guest Eric Clapton) and highest-rated in 18-49 since 2008 (4.94).

· This year's Week 2 "Saturday Night Live" on Oct. 8 with host Lin-Manuel Miranda and musical guest Twenty One Pilots (5.2/13 in metered-market households, 2.4/12 in 18-49 in the local people meters) equaled the show's highest Week 2 household rating since Sept. 20, 2008 (5.7 with host James Franco and musical guest Kings of Leon).

Saturday Primetime Ratings:

Regarding this morning's Nielsens, note that the fast-affiliate ratings that came in at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT are not time zone-adjusted and are subject to change for live sports coverage. In these preliminary results, NBC is currently tied for #2 for the night among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in adults 18-49 and #2 outright among those networks in men 18-49, adults 25-54 and men 25-54 in the fast-affiliate ratings.

In metered-market results, which are time zone-adjusted, NBC Sports coverage of Notre Dame football featuring Stanford at Notre Dame averaged a 1.92 rating, 4 share in metered-market households from 7:30-11 p.m. ET. NBC ranked #2 for the night in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters (0.7 rating).

NOTE: Ratings are "live plus same day" from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise indicated.