Saturday Night Live
has become, for the first time in its nearly half-century history, the most-watched comedy show on all US networks.
The milestone is curious, as it is a space that was born in 1975 and is already an icon of television after 46 seasons on the air.
The first seven episodes of the current season of the
sketch
format
of the NBC network (in Spain it can be seen on Movistar +) have averaged 4.1 million viewers in the 18-49 age bracket when adding their broadcast on traditional television with the delayed audience.
It is 27% more than the average of the first seven episodes of last season.
This is the best result obtained by the space since 2016. The growth in views of the complete program through digital platforms stands out, 64% higher than in the same period last year.
Since Nielsen began measuring audiences in 1987, this is the first time it has ranked as the most-watched comedy space in all of American television, both free and cable.
These results, which
The Hollywood Reporter
advances, can be attributed
to several factors.
On the one hand, the covid pandemic has led viewers to opt for friendly and elusive spaces in which humor is the protagonist.
The resurgence of sitcoms as the favorites of users of digital platforms is another example of this quest for escape.
Saturday Night Live
reinvented itself at the end of the 45th season with an
At Home
version
with
sketches
recorded with its confined protagonists.
The 46th season began in October with the team back on set in New York.
Another factor that explains the success of the program is the political climate.
The arrival of Donald Trump to the US presidency in 2016 catapulted his popularity.
The imitations of the then new president, by actor Alec Baldwin, led the space to achieve its best audience in 22 years, over 10 million viewers in some installments.
Even Trump criticized him on Twitter: “NBC is bad, but
Saturday Night Live
is the worst thing about NBC.
It's not funny, the actors are horrible, always a bad job.
A horrible television, ”he said five days before taking office.
With a new election underway, the 46th season began fueling political satire.
Alec Baldwin remained Trump while Jim Carrey stepped into the shoes of his rival Joe Biden.
Maya Rudolph joined the group shortly after to play Kamala Harris and take advantage of the physical resemblance between the two.
After Biden has assumed his office as president of the United States,
Saturday Night Live
now faces a future without the boost that the previous resident of the White House gave it.