NBC Ratings: SNL Hits Season Highs

The Nov. 12 edition of "Saturday Night Live" has scored the show's highest overnight results so far this season and its top adult 18-49 rating in Nielsen's local-people-meter markets since December 2013.

Last night's "Saturday Night Live," with host Dave Chappelle and musical guest A Tribe Called Quest, generated a 6.2 rating, 16 share in "live plus same day" household results from the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research and a 3.9/19 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

The 3.9 in 18-49 is the show's highest local-people-meter result since Dec. 21, 2013 (3.9 with host Jimmy Fallon and musical guest Justin Timberlake).

The last time "Saturday Night Live" rated higher in 18-49 overnights was Jan. 7, 2012 (4.1 with host Charles Barkley and musical guest Kelly Clarkson) on the night of an NFL Playoff overrun. Excluding that NFL-boosted figure, the last time "SNL" rated higher was May 21, 2011 (4.5 with that season's finale, hosted by Justin Timberlake with musical guest Lady Gaga).

In metered-market households, last night's 6.2 tops this season's prior high of a 6.1 on Oct. 22 and is the "SNL" high in households since Nov. 7, 2015.

Last night's telecast is up +22% versus the show's November 2015 average for originals in metered-market households (6.2 vs. 5.1) and up +70% in 18-49 in the local people meters (3.9 vs. 2.3 for November 2015).

National ratings, including viewer totals, for last night's "Saturday Night Live" are due from Nielsen on Tuesday.

Note that "SNL" adds significant viewership via time-shifting, so far this season growing by +61% in 18-49 and +3.567 million persons or +46% in total viewers nationally going from "live plus same day" Nielsens to "live plus seven day" figures. In L+SD, "SNL" this season has averaged a 2.21 rating in 18-49 nationally and 7.787 million viewers overall, and in L+7, "SNL" has grown to a 3.56 in 18-49 and 11.354 million viewers.

Versus the same point last season, "SNL" is up +34% in 18-49 nationally (3.56 vs. 2.65) and +3.578 million persons or +46% in total viewers (11.354 million vs. 7.776 million).

The average 11.354 million viewers in L+7 makes this the show's most-watched season at this point in 24 years (versus prior seasons' original telecasts through comparable dates), best since 1992 (11.417 million for that season's first four originals).

The 3.56 average in L+7 adults 18-49 rating nationally is the show's best at this point since 2008 (4.53).

Prior metered-market results this fall have been:

Oct. 1: 5.8/15 in metered-market households, 2.7/14 in 18-49 in the local people meters with host Margot Robbie and musical guest The Weeknd.

Oct. 8: 5.2/13 in metered-market households, 2.4/12 in 18-49 in the local people meters with host Lin-Manuel Miranda and musical guest Twenty One Pilots.

Oct. 15: 5.0/12 in metered-market households, 2.3/12 in 18-49 in the local people meters with host Emily Blunt and musical guest Bruno Mars.

Oct. 22: 6.1/15 in metered-market households, 3.0/14 in 18-49 in the local people meters with host Tom Hanks and musical guest Lady Gaga.

Nov. 5: 5.8/14 in metered-market households, 2.8/14 in 18-49 in the local people meters with host Benedict Cumberbatch and musical guest Solange