TV Ratings: SNL Season Opener Rated Lowest

Owen Wilson hosted SNL last weekend

Saturday Night Live's Season 47 premiere with first-time host Owen Wilson has been ranked as the lowest-rated episode in the show's nearly five decade run. 

According to The Daily Mail citing Nielsen, the episode is now the lowest-ranked episode among the show's key demographic - adults between 18-49. Wilson's episode also recorded the least amount of viewers for a season premiere the show has ever aired. 

The Season 47 premiere scored a 0.92 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and 4.9 million total viewers, meaning that just .92% of that group watched the show, according to Nielsen. 

Keegan-Michael Key’s episode, which aired on May 15, now holds the second spot for low-ratings with a 0.93 rating, meaning that just .93% of that group watched the show. 

The record for the episode with the all-time fewest viewers is still held by Scarlett Johansson, but that was not a season premiere. Her episode, which aired on May 2, 2015, was watched by 4.7 million viewers. 

In comparison, Eddie Murphy's episode on December 21, 2019, delivered a 2.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 9.921 million viewers, meaning that 2.5% of that group watched the show, a far healthier number. 

Murphy's episode brought the show its biggest ratings in two and a half years and is referred to as one of the best episode's in the beloved show's history. 

It should be noted that Nielsen ratings does not count viewers who tape or stream episodes. This summer Nielsen reported that streaming services have a bigger audience than broadcast television. 

Wilson's SNL episode was also the first to be live-streamed on NBC's Peacock service, which took viewers away from the Nielsen count.