Overview
- Live+Same Day Nielsen ratings put the Dec. 20 broadcast at 5.4 million viewers and about 1.2 million adults 18–49, a Season 51 high and the strongest Christmas episode in five years.
- The installment is the show’s most-watched in more than a year, topping this season’s 4.6 million-viewer premiere and trailing only late 2024 highs.
- NBC reports 503 million aggregated views across YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok, with the episode’s YouTube cold open registering multimillion views.
- On Peacock, the episode currently ranks second for the season behind the premiere, and delayed viewing totals such as Live+3 are still pending.
- The night doubled as Bowen Yang’s final SNL appearance after his same-day Instagram farewell, and separate reports about friction over his exit rely on anonymous sources not confirmed by NBC or SNL.