Harry Styles Jimmy Fallon [NBC]
This weekend’s “Saturday Night Live,” which featured host Jimmy Fallon and musical guest Harry Styles, delivered the show’s best ratings since February — and its second best numbers since the post-election episode in November.
Citing fast official numbers, NBC says the episode drew a 2.27 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 7.88 million overall viewers.
Up considerably from the April 2016 average, the numbers are the show’s best since the Alec Baldwin-Ed Sheeran broadcast drew a 3.10 rating and 10.84 million viewers on February 11.
To find another episode that did better, one would have to go back to the post-election episode on November 12. Featuring Dave Chappelle and A Tribe Called Quest, that broadcast drew a 3.15 adults 18-49 rating and 8.69 million viewers.
Admittedly, comparisons to past episodes are somewhat shaky given that this week’s “Saturday Night Live” aired live on both coasts. The show has historically aired on tape-delay on the west.
Still, NBC is clearly pleased by the show’s performance. In addition to the previous distinctions, NBC touts that the episode was up 42% in adults 18-49 and overall viewership from the April 2016 average.
It also tops last season’s final 11 episodes in adults 18-49 and final 12 episodes in overall viewership.
It was Saturday night’s #1 overall telecast in both columns, and it ranks as this week’s #3 network program in adults 18-49 (below only “The Big Bang Theory” and “Empire”).