Live from New York, it was a night of record-breaking ratings for NBC. The 40th anniversary “Saturday Night Live” event, which clocked in at three-and-a-half hours, became the network’s most-watched primetime entertainment special (excluding post-Super Bowl programming) since the “Friends” clip show on the night of the sitcom’s finale in May 2004. In the coveted 18-to-49 demographic, “SNL 40” attracted NBC’s best primetime viewership since 2006’s “Will & Grace” finale.
The episode averaged an impressive 23.1 million viewers from 8 to 11 p.m. The final half hour has not been factored in yet because it technically falls outside the fixed primetime window.
