‘SNL’ special dominates TV ratings

NBC won Sunday night in the TV ratings with help from its “Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special.”

According to Nielsen ratings, about 23.1 million viewers tuned in to see their favorite comedians, actors and musicians reunite at Rockefeller Center’s Studio 8H.

The 3½-hour show was NBC’s most-watched prime-time entertainment telecast, excluding post-Super Bowl programs, in more than 10 years.

In the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, the special posted a rating of 7.8, making it the network’s top-rated telecast in that demo since the “Will & Grace” finale in May 2006.

The special also generated lots of buzz (and laughs) on social media: Nielsen Social reported that a total of 9.1 million people in the U.S. saw the approximately 1.3 million tweets from more than 449,000 people in connection with the “SNL” special.

The show also delivered 188 million Twitter TV impressions, the highest of any series episode to date, according to Nielsen Social.

Some of the “SNL” guests were among those posting on Twitter.