Ryan Gosling, Jay-Z on SNL | Will Heath/NBC
Featuring host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Jay-Z, this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” premiere drew a smaller audience than last year’s ratings.
Its numbers were, however, still quite good.
Citing fast live+same-day data, NBC says Saturday’s premiere drew a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating and 7.02 million overall viewers.
Last year’s premiere drew a stronger 2.34 rating and 8.30 million viewer mark.
That premiere was, however, the only “SNL” season opener since 2010 to draw a bigger audience.
— It should be noted that comparisons between Saturday’s opener and past premieres are not apples-to-apples. “SNL” now airs twice on the west coast — once live at 8:30PM PT and then on tape-delay at 11:30PM PT. The aforementioned ratings include unduplicated viewers from both telecasts.
Past “SNL” premieres only aired once (on tape-delay) in the west.