NBC’s Saturday Night Live closed out its most-watched season in 23 years with a finale hosted by Dwayne Johnson and musical guest Katy Perry, which averaged 8.272 million viewers overall and a 2.32 rating in adults 18-49 in “fast official” Live+Same Day ratings. That was off last week’s episode hosted by Melissa McCarthy (10.337 million, 2.74 in 18-49) but marked the second best numbers since SNL went live coast to coast last month. It was the fourth most-watched and highest-rated episode of the season.
The telecast, which also counted unduplicated viewers from 11:30 encores in western markets, marked SNL‘s most watched season finale since 2011 (with host Justin Timberlake and musical guest Lady Gaga, 9.818 million) and highest rated in 18-49 since 2013 (with host Ben Affleck and musical guest Kanye West, 2.37).
SNL ranked as the No. 1 telecast so far this week on the broadcast networks in 18-49 rating, edging Fox’s Empire (2.17). Versus Saturday Night Live’s average with originals for the month of May last year, this week’s telecast is up 45% in adults 18-49 and 3.0 million or +58% in total viewers.
The average 10.880 million viewers in Live+7 makes this the show’s most-watched season at this point in 23 years. The 3.48 average in L+7 adults 18-49 rating average is the show’s best performances in the demo at this point in seven years.
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