Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC
First on LateNighter: Olivia Rodrigo’s SNL 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 SNL‘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 SNL 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.
SNL returns this weekend with the second of this season’s final three episodes with host Matt Damon and musical guest Noah Kahan.
Episode-by-episode Nielsen ratings charts for SNL’s 51st season follow below.
Live+SD Ratings – All Viewers (P2+)
Date Host / Music Guest Avg Viewers
(000’s) Avg Share % 5/2/26 Olivia Rodrigo 4,993 15.89 4/11/26 Colman Domingo / Anitta 4,148 13.00 4/4/26 Jack Black / Jack White 4,500 13.12 3/14/26 Harry Styles 4,792 13.70 3/7/26 Ryan Gosling / Gorillaz 4,342 14.31 2/28/26 Connor Storrie / Mumford & Sons 4,611 19.26 1/31/26 Alexander Skarsgård / Cardi B 4,820 15.18 1/24/26 Teyana Taylor / Geese 4,437 14.42 1/17/26 Finn Wolfhard / A$AP Rocky 4,140 15.19 12/20/25 Ariana Grande / Cher 5,404 16.83 12/13/25 Josh O’Connor / Lily Allen 3,949 13.08 12/6/25 Melissa McCarthy / Dijon 4,304 12.62 11/15/25 Glen Powell / Olivia Dean 4,165 14.41 11/8/25 Nikki Glaser / sombr 4,023 13.75 11/1/25 Miles Teller / Brandi Carlile 3,496 7.47 10/18/25 Sabrina Carpenter 4,248 14.67 10/11/25 Amy Poehler / Role Model 4,369 14.05 10/4/25 Bad Bunny / Doja Cat 4,634 14.99 Updated Big Data Plus Panel Ratings Data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
Live+SD Ratings – In the Demo (P18-49)
Date Host / Music Guest Avg Viewers
(000s) Avg Share % 5/2/26 Olivia Rodrigo 1,104 16.94 4/11/26 Colman Domingo / Anitta 842 12.43 4/4/26 Jack Black / Jack White 1,040 13.74 3/14/26 Harry Styles 942 12.16 3/7/26 Ryan Gosling / Gorillaz 817 12.87 2/28/26 Connor Storrie / Mumford & Sons 1,029 15.19 1/31/26 Alexander Skarsgård / Cardi B 950 14.32 1/24/26 Teyana Taylor / Geese 695 11.06 1/17/26 Finn Wolfhard / A$AP Rocky 858 14.53 12/20/25 Ariana Grande / Cher 1,224 17.71 12/13/25 Josh O’Connor / Lily Allen 710 11.23 12/6/25 Melissa McCarthy / Dijon 746 9.87 11/15/25 Glen Powell / Olivia Dean 799 13.48 11/8/25 Nikki Glaser / sombr 733 11.97 11/1/25 Miles Teller / Brandi Carlile 605 4.98 10/18/25 Sabrina Carpenter 938 14.92 10/11/25 Amy Poehler / Role Model 893 12.91 10/4/25 Bad Bunny / Doja Cat 1,125 16.33 Updated Big Data Plus Panel Ratings Data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
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