NBC is going back to the SNL50 well. The network will rebroadcast Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary special in its entirety next month.
The three-and-a-half hour special will air in primetime Sunday, June 8, giving linear TV viewers a second chance to watch it. Airing in February, SNL50: The Anniversary Special was the culmination of the show’s 50th season celebrations, featuring a star-studded list of former SNL cast members, celebrities, and musicians.
It’s not unusual for NBC to re-air anniversary specials that often serve as ratings boons for the network. It did the same for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’s 10th anniversary special, running an encore presentation several months after its initial airing dominated the competition. Another component of the SNL50 celebrations, the documentary Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music, also got a second airing a month after its debut. In that case, the rerun beat the ratings of its original airing.
With 16 million viewers having tuned into NBC and Peacock for the live broadcast of SNL50: The Anniversary Special, it’s doubtful the encore airing will see anything close to those numbers—but it’s a great way to cap off SNL’s 50th season, which closes this weekend with host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Bad Bunny.
NBC is prepping another anniversary special as one of its next big entertainment events—this time for the network itself, which is due to celebrate its 100th birthday next year.
SNL50: The Anniversary Special re-airs on NBC Sunday, June 8, at 7:30 PM ET.
