The ‘Saturday Night Live’ ratings came during the 2024 election cycle

Although it did not appear on any election day ballots, one of the biggest losers in the 2024 election cycle was “Saturday Night Live.”

NBC’s long-running sketch comedy show has long been at the center of the cultural zeitgeist, satirizing the news of the day and mocking the most powerful politicians while serving as a launchpad for the careers of prominent comedians. But its ratings have taken a hit this year, especially compared to the 2016 and 2020 elections.

Saturday’s post-election episode of “SNL” averaged just 4.4 million total viewers, losing more than half of the 9.2 million viewers it received in 2020, according to data from Nielsen Research. It marked the least-watched episode so far this season.

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“SNL” lost 25% of its audience during the 2024 election season compared to 2020. (NBC/Saturday Night Live)

In the weeks leading up to the 2024 election, “SNL” averaged 5.4 million viewers, losing 25% of its audience leading up to the 2020 election and nearly a third of its 2016 audience.

The Peacock network relied heavily on stunt casting this election cycle, with “SNL” alums Maya Rudolph and Dana Carvey as Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden, respectively, comedian Jim Gaffigan playing Harris’ running mate Tim Walz and “SNL” alum Andy Samberg in the role as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.

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Cast regulars James Austin Johnson and Bowen Yang played President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect JD Vance, respectively.

Popular comedian Shane Gillis allegedly rejected an offer from “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels to play Trump this season after he did his Trump impersonation while hosting the show earlier this year. Gillis was famously hired, then fired by “SNL” in 2019 as a featured cast member after progressive critics seized on old jokes.

“SNL” cast members Bowen Yang and James Austin Johnson have portrayed Vice President-elect JD Vance and President-elect Donald Trump on the show this year. (NBC/Contributor)

The most-watched episode of the season so far was the Saturday before Election Day, when Harris made a surprise appearance in the cold recess alongside Rudolph, which earned 6.6 million viewers.

Trump himself has not appeared on “SNL” since hosting the show in November 2015 during his first presidential campaign. It served a great deal 9.3 million viewers then.

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“SNL” spent much of the last eight years bashing the now president-elect. During the cold open skit after the 2024 election, “SNL” cast members offered him a message, jokingly insisting they were “with (him) the whole time.”

“We have never wavered in our support for you, even when others doubted you,” Yang said.

The “SNL” post-election episode only reached 4.4 million viewers, less than half of the 2020 post-election episode. (NBC/SNL)

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During Trump’s first term in office, the president was played by Alec Baldwin. And in the first two years of the Biden presidency, “SNL” spent more time spoofs the former president than the current one.

Some of its cast members reportedly sobbing over Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016. In her first cold open since she lost, Clinton portrayer Kate McKinnon performed an earnest rendition of “Hallelujah” on the piano and tearfully told the audience not to give up.