Saturday Night Live Unwraps Highest Overnight Ratings in Nearly Two Years

Hosted by Jimmy Fallon and featuring musical guest Justin Timberlake, SNL delivered its top metered-market results since January 2012.

The Dec. 21 edition of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Jimmy Fallon and featuring musical guest Justin Timberlake, generated the show’s highest overnight ratings in nearly two years, according to "live plus same day" viewing figures from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research.

Saturday Night Live averaged a 6.3 rating, 16 share in household results in Nielsen’s 56 metered markets and a 3.9/18 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with Local People Meters, making it the top-rated SNL in both categories since the Jan. 7. 2012 edition hosted by Charles Barkley with musical guest Kelly Clarkson (7.0/18 in metered-market households, 4.1 rating in 18-49 in the Local People Meters), which benefited from a primetime NFL overrun.

Excluding nights of NFL overruns, it’s the top Saturday Night Live in both categories since the season finale on May 21, 2011, hosted by Justin Timberlake and featuring musical guest Lady Gaga (7.0/17 in metered-market households, 4.5 rating in 18-49 in the Local People Meters).

It’s the top-rated Saturday Night Live Christmas edition in nine years in metered-market households, since the Dec. 18, 2004 telecast hosted by Robert De Niro with musical guest Destiny’s Child (6.6/16) and the #1 Christmas show in the Local People Meters in the six years NBC has tracked that measure (excludes primetime Christmas specials).

Last night’s results top prior Christmas editions hosted by both Jimmy Fallon (Dec. 17, 2011, 5.3/13 in metered-market households, 3.0 rating in 18-49 in the Local People Meters) and Justin Timberlake (Dec. 16, 2006, 5.5/13 in metered-market households),

The Dec. 21 Saturday Night Live is the No. 1 telecast of the night on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in both metered-market households and 18-49 rating in the Local People Meters, topping all primetime programming on those networks in both categories.

National ratings, including viewer totals, for last night’s Saturday Night Live are due from Nielsen on Monday, Dec. 30.

In Nielsen’s fast-affiliate results for primetime last night, NBC ranked #1 for the night among ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in adults 18-49, led by the No. 1 primetime show of the night on those nets, the 10 p.m. Saturday Night Live encore. That rebroadcast of the Dec. 7 SNL with host Paul Rudd and musical guest One Direction, averaged a 1.1 rating, 4 share in adults 18-49 and 3.1 million viewers overall, hitting the top results for an SNL rebroadcast in the slot since March 16 (with host and musical guest Justin Timberlake, 1.1/4 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall).