'SNL' Season 50 Premiere Gets High Rating in 4 Years

Saturday night live began its milestone 50th season with a notable increase in ratings.

The season premiere, hosted by Hack Emmy winner Jean Smart got 5.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen's same-day ratings (which don't include streaming). This is the best start for a SNL season from 2020 and a 15% improvement over the 4.6 million viewers who tuned in for last year's premiere.

The premiere featured a number of guest appearances, including three by former cast members: Maya Rudolph returned as Vice President Kamala Harris, Andy Samberg played Harris' husband Doug Emhoff, and Dana Carvey played President Joe Biden. Comedian Jim Gaffigan also showed up to play Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris' vice presidential nominee, while incumbents James Austin Johnson and Bowen Yang played Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance.

The 5.3 million viewers also gain SNL one of the most-watched entertainment programs of the first week of the 2024-25 season, based on same-day data. While awaiting results for Sunday's prime time, just three more shows follow, all on NBC: The Voice (5.96 million viewers), Chicago fire (5.6 million) e Chicago Med (5.46 million).

SNL it typically gets a ratings boost in election years: The season 46 premiere in 2020 brought in more than 8 million viewers, which was also a four-year high at the time.

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