'Saturday Night Live' still solid

This weekend's show up 31% compared with last season

By Paul J. Gough

Nov 16, 2008, 04:38 PM ET

NEW YORK -- The election's over, but the run of strong ratings for "Saturday Night Live" hasn't abated yet.

While it's nothing like the highest-in-14-years ratings that "SNL" logged for Sarah Palin's appearance, this weekend's show didn't do too badly. "SNL" averaged a 5.9 overnight rating/14 share in the metered markets, Nielsen Media Research said Sunday.

That's up 31% compared with last season's originals, and it is higher than every episode last season with the exception of the Feb. 23 show, the first after the end of the writers strike.

"SNL" also beat everything in primetime Saturday.

Saturday's show was hosted by actor Paul Rudd; Beyonce was the musical guest.

What didn't do as well as the Oct. 25 episode of "SNL," which was rebroadcast earlier in the night on NBC. It averaged a 1.3/4.

Final ratings for Saturday primetime will be out Tuesday. Final ratings for the "SNL" original will be out Thursday.

'Saturday Night Live' still solid

This weekend's show up 31% compared with last season

By Paul J. Gough

Nov 16, 2008, 04:38 PM ET