'Saturday Night Live' premiere ratings: up in households, down slightly in demo

NBC's "Saturday Night Live," with host Miley Cyrus and a visit by Hillary Clinton, kicked off its 41st season with solid but unspectacular ratings.

In Nielsen's metered-market overnights, Saturday's season opener averaged a 4.5 household rating/11 share -- up 13% vs. the year-ago premiere (4.0/10) featuring Chris Pratt and musical guest Ariana Grande. The 4.5 is the highest overnight for "SNL" since Jan. 24 (a 4.7 with Blake Shelton as host and musical guest).

Total-viewer estimates won't be available until later this week, but last night's opener figures to have drawn a larger overall crowd than last year's premiere, which averaged 5.56 million. In adults 18-49, last night's 2.0 overnight rating was down a tick from last year, but matches the show's highest score in its final eight originals last season.

Though a primetime 40th anniversary special of "SNL" drew huge ratings for NBC in February , the show didn't have a great 2014-15 ratings season in its regular slot. There's hope, though, that a politically charged climate and buzzworthy guest hosts like Tracy Morgan and Amy Schumer can help reinvigorate the late-night institution.

Last season's regular-timeslot peak came in November, when Chris Rock and musical guest Prince delivered a 4.9 hou1sehold rating and a 2.4 demo rating in the overnights. That translated into 7.44 million total viewers in the nationals.

"SNL" adds significant viewership via time-shifting, with originals last season growing by an average of 44% in adults 18-49 rating when going from "live plus same-day" to "live plus-7" (1.84 to 2.65).

Last night's opener, hosted by Miley Cyrus, featured a cameo by Hillary Clinton, with the Democratic presidential hopeful playing a bartender named "Val" opposite Kate McKinnon as Clinton. The premiere also featured a cold opening with cast member Taran Killam as Donald Trump, sitting alongside Cecily Strong as Trump's wife, Melania.

Source by : http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/television_news/2015/10/saturday_night_live_premiere_ratings_up_in