50 seasons in, Saturday Night Live may no longer be in the 18-49 demo itself, but when it comes to viewers in the advertiser-coveted group, the legendary NBC sketch show is still tops.
With the final numbers now in for the 2024-25 broadcast season, SNL is officially the season’s top rated entertainment series across broadcast and cable TV among viewers 18-49. For the sixth year running, it’s also TV’s highest-rated comedy series in the demo.
The good news for Lorne Michaels and team doesn’t end there. While most shows saw year-over-year ratings declines as younger audiences continue to migrate online, the 2024-25 season was another up year for SNL, with the show averaging 8.1 million viewers weekly across all platforms, up 12% from last season.
Beyond the show’s 20 regular season episodes, NBC also aired SNL‘s much-ballyhooed 50th anniversary special on February 16th, which ended drawing 22.8 million total viewers across all platforms in its first 35 days. The show’s live Homecoming Concert, which streamed exclusively on Peacock two days before the anniversary special, now ranks as the streamer’s #1 highest-reaching original special of all time.
As we’ve previously reported, NBC says the show also booked record-setting revenue this season—the highest of any SNL season in the history of the franchise, per a February report in Variety.
“To see the show honor its legacy while still pushing boundaries was incredible,” Katie Hockmeyer, Executive Vice President, Late Night, NBCUniversal Entertainment said in a statement. “The strong ratings this season are a testament to how deeply SNL continues to resonate with audiences, After five decades, SNL remains a powerful force in shaping culture and making us laugh week after week.”
