It was a Mother’s Day-themed edition of Saturday Night Live this past week, with former cast member Maya Rudolph taking on host duties, and Vampire Weekend serving as musical guest for the season’s penultimate episode.
Viewership for the Rudolph-led SNL was slightly below average. The sketch show hauled in an average of 4,251,000 total viewers and 899,000 P18-49 viewers on May 11, 2024, per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen. That’s – 10% in total viewers and -11% in P18-49 from the most-recent episode — led by Dua Lipa on May 4. It’s the show’s smallest live-plus-same-day audience since the March 30, 2024 episode (hosted by Ramy Youssef). Delayed viewing data for the May 11 episode won’t arrive for several days.
Out of the 19 SNL episodes that have aired this season to-date, the Maya Rudolph-led show comes in at No. 11 in total live-plus-same-day viewers, and No. 12 in P18-49 viewers.
A cast member from 2000-2007 and three-time SNL host, last week’s SNL represented Rudolph’s first time as host since March 27, 2021. She returned to cameo on the show during Natasha Lyonne’s Season 48 episode, and also appeared in two sketches with Kristen Wiig during Kate McKinnon’s December 16, 2023 episode.
Rudolph currently stars in and executive-produces the Apple TV+ comedy Loot, in the midst of its second season.
Jake Gyllenhaal will host the Saturday Night Live Season 49 finale on May 18. This will be the Road House star’s third time hosting the sketch show, having previously fronted episodes in 2007 and 2022. Sabrina Carpenter will be the musical guest on the season finale. It will be her SNL debut.
