Olivia Rodrigo’s Saturday Night Live double duty debut drew an impressive audience, with the 23–year–old pop star drawing the season’s second–highest overall ratings to date.
Per Nielsen Live+Same Day data, Saturday Night Live’s May 2 episode drew an average of 5 million total viewers and 1.1 million viewers aged 18–49.
That’s a 20% increase in total audience and a 31% increase in the advertiser–coveted demo from the show’s April 11 episode (with host Colman Domingo and musical guest Anitta).
Year–over–year, compared to Saturday Night Live‘s May 3, 2025 episode (with host Quinta Brunson and musical guest Benson Boone), this weekend’s episode was up 15% among total viewers and up a whopping 45% in the demo.
Among the 18 Saturday Night Live episodes to air so far this season, Rodrigo’s episode ranks No. 2 in total viewers (behind the Ariana Grande–hosted Christmas episode) and No. 3 among viewers aged 18–49 (with only the Christmas episode and the Bad Bunny / Doja Cat season opener faring better).
As always, bottom–line viewership will rise when Live+3 numbers—which include delayed viewing—come in. (For example, per Nielsen, the show’s April 11 episode gained 1.8 million total viewers in the three days following its broadcast, with Live+3 figures topping out at 5.9 million total viewers, while demo viewership grew by 34% to 1.1 million viewers.)
It’s also worth noting that linear ratings are just one piece of the pie, especially among younger viewers. Live+Same Day figures do not include live viewing on Peacock or social media, nor do they account for the show’s YouTube performance, where this weekend’s “Hegseth and Patel Iran Press Briefing Cold Open” had been viewed more than 6.7 million times as of Wednesday afternoon.
Among the headlines to emerge from this weekend’s episode was Aziz Ansari’s debut as the show’s Kash Patel, and the revelation that Andrew Dismukes’ “Rasta Driver” character took inspiration from a real–life Reggaeton MC.
Saturday Night Live returns this weekend with the second of this season’s final three episodes with host Matt Damon and musical guest Noah Kahan.
