After posting the worst season premiere ratings in its history, “Saturday Night Live” hosted by Kim Kardashian West saw a slight bump in overnight ratings this weekend, earning a 3.8 household rating and a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to Nielsen.
By comparison, last week’s season premiere hosted by Owen Wilson had a 3.5 household rating and a 1.3 rating in 18-49, equating to a 8.5% increase overall and 23% increase in the key demo. “Households” are the earliest available data from Nielsen.
Ratings for the classic sketch comedy show are expected to be down compared from last year, as presidential election years have historically brought surges for “SNL.” The 2020-21 season posted the highest averages for “SNL” since 2016-17 when Donald Trump won the presidential election. The 2020 election week episode, which aired shortly after Joe Biden’s presidential victory speech, had the highest overnight ratings of last season at 5.7 for all households.
But the post-election drop following Biden’s victory also dates back to last season, when the final two episodes were the lowest of that run. This weekend’s episode outperformed five of the last six “SNL” episodes aired last spring. The one exception is the May 8 episode hosted by Elon Musk, which spiked ratings to a 4.7.
Next week’s episode will be hosted by “No Time to Die” star Rami Malek, with Young Thug as musical guest. “Ted Lasso” star Jason Sudeikis will host on Oct. 23.