Almost from the moment the last of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players signed off in 1980, there’s been a running debate about the supposedly fading cultural relevance of Saturday Night Live. Time and again, across multiple generations, fans and critics alike have complained it’s not as funny or biting as when they first discovered it; journalists have followed suit with stories speculating about its future. “Fold up the tent and let it die,” one critic whined shortly after Lorne Michaels returned as executive producer in 1985; “The show is struggling to pull itself out of the ashes one more time,” the New York Times wrote nine years later. Even the Washington Post’s legendary critic Tom Shales, who’d co-author a history of the show in 2002, seemed ready to write its obit at one point. “NBC seems bored with the show, too,” he wrote toward the end of the Dick Ebersol era. As evidenced by this weekend’s flurry of festivities around its 50th anniversary, SNL has survived all the pot shots. Despite the many times its quality has taken a notable hit — the “rebuilding” years, as Michaels himself has called down seasons — the show soldiers on, repeatedly reinventing itself over the decades. In fact, SNL has proven its durability so often that now, even when the future of network TV itself seems in doubt as a result of the streaming revolution, you rarely hear anyone asking whether SNL will “survive” — only how once Michaels moves on. Linear TV may be fighting for its life, yet SNL seems safe. But is this optimism warranted? After all, networks like NBC continue to reduce their overall spending on scripted programming, and there remains a better than zero chance it could trim an entire hour from some nights of its primetime schedule in coming years. In such a universe, it would be unwise to declare anything (except maybe the NFL) safe from the chopping board. But as long as NBC remains committed to broadcasting, SNL figures to be part of its programming mix for multiple reasons, including the most important one: It remains aStanley cup-size audience draw, particularly relative to everything else on network TV. ➼ Original episodes of the show are averaging 7.1 million linear viewers this season, per Nielsen, with streaming on Peacock and video on demand bringing the show’s weekly audience to 8.4 million, according to NBC. Either number would land SNL in Nielsen’s ranking of the 20 biggest scripted shows on broadcast or cable if it aired in primetime. ➼ SNL’s weekly tune-in crushes that of anything else in late-night, attracting a bigger audience than the combined average weekly viewership of CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert (1.9 million), ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live (1.5 million)and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (1.2 million) and Late Night with Seth Meyers (822,000). ➼ Among the demo group many advertisers still covet — adults aged 18 to 49 — SNL stands as network TV’s No. 1 entertainment series this season. Its linear-only demo rating (1.21) is about 25 percent ahead of the No. 1 primetime show (CBS’s Survivor, with a 0.92) and is essentially tied with the overall linear TV demo leader, Paramount Network’s Yellowstone (1.23 for its shortened six-episode final season). And among the (admittedly few) TV comedies left on linear TV right now, SNL is a clear No. 1 — and has been for the last six seasons. ➼ SNL’s performance among younger viewers is even stronger when you add in the streaming data from Peacock and cable on-demand viewership. Per NBC, the series is averaging the equivalent of a 1.8 rating with those sources, boosting its overall demo rating by a whopping 50 percent. Of course, like almost every other entertainment program on broadcast or cable today, SNL’s Nielsen numbers are mostly down from where they were before streaming upended the industry about a decade ago — particularly among the younger cohort of viewers who shifted away from linear TV fastest. During the season that began in the fall of 2015, for instance, SNL averaged a 2.7 rating among adults under 50, markedly better than this season’s 1.2 demo rating as measured by Nielsen and the 1.8 demo number when Peacock gets folded in. But the decline is much smaller in overall viewership: SNL’s current linear-only audience of 7.2 million viewers is just one million fewer than the 8.2 million it averaged nine years ago. And as noted earlier, that gap completely disappears once you add in the viewers who now watch via Peacock and on-demand. SNL’s ratings performance looks particularly solid when you compare it to the rest of the linear TV universe, including other late-night programs. Among adults under 50, NBC’s own Tonight Show, for example, has collapsed from a 0.8 rating in 2016 to a mere 0.14 rating so far this season, while CBS rival Late Show has dropped from a 0.58 demo rating to a 0.17. Plus, while the 8.2 million viewers SNL averaged during the 2015-’16 season sounds impressive now, back then, nearly 40 primetime entertainment shows attracted at least a million more viewers every week, per Nielsen. By contrast, only three series so far this season — Tracker, Matlock and FBI (all on CBS) — are doing the same vs. SNL’s 2024-’25 linear average of 7.1 million viewers. Similarly, while SNL presently ranks as broadcast TV’s No. 1 show in the adults under 50 demo, its 2.7 demo circa 2015 wouldn’t have even put it in the top 20 for the season. So while SNL has definitely shed younger viewers over time, the show is doing a far better job managing the decline of the broadcast ecosystem than most other programs. As a result, SNL might actually be more valuable to NBC now than when ratings were much higher. Take, for instance, advertising sales. “My understanding is that the prices of SNL commercials have gone up significantly over the years,” says Brian Steinberg, senior TV editor at Variety. Emerging as the top-rated non-sports show in the most advertiser-coveted demos certainly has helped, but Steinberg also points to NBC’s decision a few years back to slightly reduce the overall number of commercial spots in the show and air it live across all timezones as a tactic to build advertiser demand. While Steinberg cautions that higher ad rates don’t necessarily mean overall revenue from SNL is up — remember, companies spend a lot less on network TV than they did ten years ago — it does suggest the show remains hugely important to NBC’s overall ad income. “I think SNL advertising is probably of more importance to NBC, not less,” he says, noting that Madison Ave. places a premium on shows which can get viewers to watch live or within a few days after the air. “There's enough of a community around seeing SNL live that it still has strong appeal for advertisers. There's a reason you have sponsors like Apple hitching its wagon to the seconds immediately after the first musical number.” Beyond the direct monetization that comes from ad sales, NBC has become increasingly adept at milking money out of SNL via other partnerships and sponsorships — especially for this anniversary season. NBC tells Vulture its sales unit was able to drive “record-setting revenue” compared to “any SNL season in the history of the franchise” via various tie-ins to SNL 50, including this weekend’s primetime anniversary special, a concert that will stream on Peacock, and various SNL docs. It has also struck multi-year agreements with several high-end “presenting sponsors,” including Volkswagen of America, Allstate, and L’Oreal Groupe. Given how many primetime ads are now for pharmaceutical products aimed at folks over 50, SNL’s ability to attract premium brands makes it highly valuable. That said, SNL likely isn’t serving as an ATM for NBC or its parent company NBCUniversal. It costs an estimated $4 million per 90-minute episode to make, and as Steinberg noted, even if brands love being associated with it, they’re just not spending as much on network TV as they used to. NBC and SNL declined to make any executives available to discuss its value to the network, including how much net profit, if any, the show currently makes. And yet, even if you were to assume the worst — that SNL barely breaks even every year — the show is worth far more to NBCU than whatever number ends up on the profit and loss statement at the end of each fiscal year. There’s the way SNL has served as a massive NBCUniversal comedy farm team for decades, developing the talent behind hits such as 30 Rock, The Office (a UK format adapted by SNL vet Greg Daniels), Parks and Recreation, The Good Place, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The Conan O’Brien era of Late Night was also packed with SNL alums, both in front of and behind the camera, while the network’s two current weeknight late night shows are hosted by SNL alums. And since Michaels also serves as executive producer, both The Tonight Show and Late Night operate as an extended promotional universe for NBCU TV shows and movies. SNL has also proven to be an asset to NBCU in the streaming wars. While the majority of network TV shows stream next-day, NBC worked out an agreement with its affiliate TV stations that lets SNL stream live on Peacock as well. That’s given the NBCU-owned streamer a potent marketing tool to recruit cord-cutters who want to be able to watch SNL as soon as it airs but have no interest in getting a cable subscription to do so. What’s more, unlike a scripted original that drops all its episodes at once or over the course of a month or two, SNL spreads its 20 or so episodes each season over nine months, helping fight subscriber churn: If you’re into SNL, you’re not just going to sign up for Peacock in June and binge a season’s worth of episodes. The fact that SNL essentially reinvents itself with every episode is another boon to Peacock, since each host and musical guest represents the chance to connect with different fandoms and kinds of viewers. If you’re just not into competition reality shows, The Traitors is never going to bring you to Peacock. By contrast, a combo like John Mulaney and Chappell Roan is enough to deliver a surge in viewers; their election eve episode last November, which also featured a cameo from Kamala Harris, drew over 10 million viewers — the biggest SNL audience in nearly three years. That’s a ratings win, sure, but those Only-on-SNL talent combinations are also a marketing hook with which NBCUniversal can both attract and keep more streaming subscribers. Indeed, Peacock says SNL consistently ranks as one of its top three drivers of new sign-ups to the platform among next-day NBC programming. While the many specific (and monetizable) benefits SNL provides to NBC are what matter most to the numbers-crunchers at the network’s parent company, it’s worth noting that a not-insignificant chunk of the show’s value is, for lack of a better phrase, vibes-based. At a time when network TV has been struggling to maintain a pulse, SNL keeps NBC relevant. Yes, the show is a bona fide ratings and advertiser success, but it also remains — somewhat amazingly — a pop culture touchstone. The “Bridesmaid Speech” from last October, for example, has rung up 106 million views on TikTok, 43 million views on Instagram, and 16 million YouTube views. NBC says that makes it the most-shared sketch on social media so far this season, but more weeks than not, SNL has one or two moments that go viral. That’s not happening with Chicago Fire, as heavily viewed and profitable as that show is. “Few shows have adapted to the digital age as seamlessly as SNL,” says Journey Gunderson, executive director of the Jamestown, New York–based National Comedy Center. “It has always been a water cooler show, fueling conversations in schools and workplaces. But that water cooler has moved from office break rooms to YouTube and social media.” Gunderson attributes SNL’s staying power to the fundamentals Michaels established when he launched the show a half-century ago. “By blending established cast members and writers with fresh voices and breakout performers, there’s an alchemy to the show that bridges generations,” she says. “The show’s live, rapid-fire rhythm keeps audiences engaged and forgiving. If a sketch or musical act isn’t for you, something new is just four minutes away.” And that, perhaps, makes SNL a perfect fit for the age of seemingly infinite content and something-for-everyone streamers. At its heart, the program is a variety show — best known for its sketch comedy, sure, but also filled with stand-up, music, performance art, short films, and a satirical take on the week’s headlines. But instead of the chilly AI and algorithms of Netflix, SNL uses the human curation of Michaels and his ever-evolving troupe of writers and performers to produce a weekly package of comedy content designed to attract the attention of millions of viewers. In the past, the goal was simply to get audiences to watch live, from New York every Saturday night. Today, it’s about reaching them across multiple platforms seven days a week. The good news for NBC: In 2025, SNL is succeeding at both. |
