Home / Arts and Entertainment / SNL UK Goes Viral: 86M+ Views Online
SNL UK Goes Viral: 86M+ Views Online
22 Apr
Summary
- Over 86 million views across online platforms.
- Instagram Reels leads with 55 million views.
- TV viewership declined after a strong premiere.
Saturday Night Live UK has garnered over 86 million views across its official YouTube, Instagram Reels, X/Twitter, and TikTok accounts, demonstrating substantial online virality. Instagram Reels has emerged as a dominant platform, accumulating 55 million views, with 16 videos exceeding one million streams. The most popular clip features guest host Tina Fey as Mary Poppins, amassing 9.6 million views.
On YouTube, Fey's opening monologue was the top-performing video with 2.7 million views, and several cold opens rank highly. The sketch "The Last Supper," featuring Jack Shep's impression of Princess Diana, was the most-viewed sketch on both YouTube and Instagram Reels. Despite impressive online engagement, industry sources suggest these views may not translate into significant revenue for Sky, nor are they boosting NOW streaming subscriptions.
The show premiered with a strong television audience of 226,000, growing to 784,000 with repeats and extended viewing. However, viewership has since declined, with the fourth episode drawing 371,700 viewers, a 30% drop from the premiere. Encouragingly, the series has seen growth in the 25-34 age demographic.
SNL UK is set to continue with upcoming guest hosts Nicola Coughlan and Foo Fighters, followed by Aimee Lou Wood and Meek. Creator Lorne Michaels has praised the UK version, calling it "smarter, funnier, more original" than its U.S. counterpart.
