This is not the news you want to hear as you head into a new season but Saturday Night Live is making ratings headlines for its 47th season premiere and it has everything to do with how the lack of viewers that tuned in.
Among adults 18-49, the SNL season 47 premiere is now the lowest-rated episode in the show’s history, according to Nielsen, per “The Wrap.” The episode, hosted by Owen Wilson, may have been the least-watched season premiere episode of all-time in the key demo, but it was not the least-watched of any episode ever in terms of total viewers. The number of total viewers looks good on paper but networks care more about the 18-49 demo for advertiser purposes and that’s why more emphasis is put on that figure.
The season 47 premiere of SNL pulled in a 0.92 rating in the 18-49 demo and 4.9 million total viewers. According to Nielsen, the figure was down 50% in the demo and 41% overall from the show’s season 46 premiere, which was hosted by Chris Rock. The season 46 premiere drew a 1.85 in the 18-49 demo and 8.252 million total viewers.
The previous all-time ratings low was very close to the season 47 premiere. That distinction goes to the 0.93 demo rating for an episode hosted by Keegan-Michael Key on May 15th of this year. He avoided posting a record low in total viewers and that honor goes to Scarlett Johansson, whose episode was watched by 4.7 million total viewers back on May 2, 2015. Key’s episode was eventually rounded up to 4.8 million total viewers.
One aspect that could explain the low demo score is that the season 47 premiere was the first-ever SNL episode to be live-streamed. This possibly could’ve taken viewers that would have normally been measured by Nielsen. Also, with each passing year, more and more viewing shifts over to delayed viewing on digital platforms so the episode is likely to see a bump when that is factored in.
Did YOU watch the season 47 premiere of Saturday Night Live?