The fast official ratings report brings bad news and good news for this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” season finale.
The bad news? Despite the season finale billing and big name principal guests in Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Katy Perry, viewership was down substantially from that of last week’s Melissa McCarthy-HAIM episode.
The good news? It was the show’s most watched season finale since the Justin Timberlake-Lady Gaga episode in 2011.
It also ranks as the week’s #1 network program in adults 18-49.
Citing the fast official data, NBC says this weekend’s episode drew a 2.32 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 8.272 million overall viewers.
Last week’s episode drew a 2.74 rating and 10.337 million in overall viewership.
This week’s performance nonetheless compares favorably to the past few season finales. Its viewership tally was the best for a season finale since the aforementioned Timberlake-Gaga episode drew 9.82 million in 2011.
It meanwhile posted the best adults 18-49 rating for a season finale since the Ben Affleck-Kanye West episode drew a 2.37 in 2013.
The performance also compares favorably to anything else offered by the broadcast networks this week. “SNL” outperformed “Empire” (2.17) and currently ranks as the week’s #1 broadcast show in adults 18-49.
