or


[10/01/17 - 10:09 AM]
"Saturday Night Live" Delivers Its #2 Most-Watched Season Premiere in Seven Years
NBC spins the numbers for Saturday, September 30.
[via press release from NBC]

"SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" DELIVERS ITS #2 MOST-WATCHED SEASON PREMIERE IN SEVEN YEARS

With Host Ryan Gosling and Musical Guest Jay-Z, the 43rd Season Debut of 'SNL' Ranks as the Show's #2 Opener in Total Viewers Since 2010

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Oct. 1, 2017 - The 43rd season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" has generated the show's second most-watched season opener in seven years, trailing over that span only last year's election-fueled results, according to "fast official" "live plus same day" results from Nielsen Media Research.

With a telecast hosted by Ryan Gosling and featuring musical guest Jay-Z, last night's "Saturday Night Live" averaged 7.020 million viewers overall and a 1.91 rating in adults 18-49.

The Sept. 30 edition, which aired live coast to coast (11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT) and counted unduplicated viewers from 11:30 encores in western markets, generated the show's second biggest overall audience for a season debut since Sept. 25, 2010, when the telecast hosted by Amy Poehler and featuring musical guest Katy Perry, averaged a slightly higher 7.022 million viewers.

Over that seven-year span, the only bigger result for an "SNL" season debut came with last year's opener, hosted by Margot Robbie and featuring musical guest The Weeknd, as well as the first appearance of Alec Baldwin as then-Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump (8.297 million viewers overall, 2.34 rating in adults 18-49). Last year's premiere was at that time the show's most-watched in eight years and highest-rated in 18-49 in three years.

Note that "Saturday Night Live" will add significant viewership via time-shifting and VOD. Last season's 21 originals grew by +60% in adult 18-49 rating and +3.406 million persons or +44% in total viewers nationally going from "live plus same day" Nielsens to "live plus seven day" figures..

That season's average 11.071 million viewers in L+7 made 2016-17 the show's most-watched season in 23 years, "SNL's" best since 1993-94 (11.320 million). The 3.51 average in L+7 adult 18-49 rating nationally made it the show's best season in that demo in seven years (since the 2009-10 season, a 3.51).





  [october 2017]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (NBC)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[11/14/25 - 10:30 AM]
"High Potential" Season 2 Premiere Scores Over 21 Million Total Viewers Across 35 Days
Season to date, the powerhouse drama continues to dominate, ranking as the No. 1 original broadcast series for the second season in a row among Adults 18-49 (2.42 rating), based on Nielsen cross-platform rankings.
[11/14/25 - 09:35 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Rises Week to Week with 6.67 Million Total Viewers as Show Heads to Semi-Finals
This marks the show's best performance for its last episode before the semi-finals among Total Viewers in six years and among Adults 18-49 in eight years.
[11/14/25 - 09:31 AM]
"Wicked: One Wonderful Night" Shines for NBC
Across all platforms, the special drew 3.6 million viewers, which was up 64% from last year's "Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked" special.
[11/12/25 - 08:27 AM]
ABC Scores Top Game of the Week for the 10th Straight Week; "College GameDay" Posts Week 11 Growth and Record Season Rolls On
LSU-Alabama (7.5 million viewers) was the most-watched game of the week, followed by Texas A&M-Missouri (4.9 million) and BYU-Texas Tech (4.0 million) among the top five.
[11/11/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of November 3 - "Frankenstein" Comes to Life at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
For more monsters, viewers turned to Season 4 of "The Witcher," putting the series at No. 1 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.

[11/06/25 - 02:15 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 25-54
"Nightline" was up on the previous week by double digits in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
[11/05/25 - 09:39 AM]
"College GameDay" and ESPN College Football on ABC Win Week 10
Georgia-Florida led the week with 7.8 million viewers, marking the largest audience on record for this rivalry in a full national window.

[11/05/25 - 08:00 AM]
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Concludes First Full Year on The Cw Network with Most-Watched Season in Four Years
The championship race, which saw Jesse Love emerge as the season winner, drew 1,015,000 total viewers and peaked at 1,191,000 total viewers from 9:30-9:45pm ET.
[11/04/25 - 04:19 PM]
FOX Scores 7.19 Million Viewers for Penn State-Ohio State
Plus, Texas Tech's win over K-State earned 3,131,000 viewers on FOX - up +42% over last year's average of Big 12 games on the network.
[11/04/25 - 03:38 PM]
FOX Sports Wraps Unforgettable Postseason as Epic World Series Game 7 Delivers 27.3 Million Viewers
On FOX, the 11-inning Fall Classic conclusion peaked at 33,064,000 viewers from 11:45 PM-12:00 AM ET.
[11/04/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of October 27 - "Nobody Wants This" Season 2 Steals Hearts and the No. 1 Spot in Top 10
Those looking for a more magical and mature spooky-weekend watch indulged in the new season of "The Witcher," casting its spell at No. 2 on the English TV list with 7.4 million views.
[11/03/25 - 11:00 AM]
CBS Premiere Week Leads Live+7 Multiplatform Viewership with Television's #1 Show "Tracker" and Four of the Top Five Series
The network claimed 10 of the top 20 series, twice as many top 20 shows as the competition.
[11/03/25 - 05:11 AM]
25,984,000 Viewers Tuned in for the Dodgers Back-to-Back, Dramatic Clinch of the Fall Classic Across FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports Streaming Services - The Most Since 2017
On FOX, World Series Game 7 peaked with 31,543,000 viewers from 11:30-11:45 PM ET.
[10/31/25 - 02:22 PM]
FOX Sports Hits 14.6 Million Viewers for Game 5 of the World Series
The telecast reached a peak viewership of 16,034,000 viewers on FOX between 10:00-10:15 PM ET.
[10/31/25 - 10:42 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Scares Up More Wins - Rising for Historic Sixth Week in a Row
"Dancing with the Stars" is the only fall show to increase its overall audience for six consecutive weeks following its season premiere.