‘SNL50’: How the Celebration of a Golden TV Milestone Became a Test for NBCUniversal – Variety
Source: Variety
EXCLUSIVE behind-the-scenes photos and data insights from ‘SNL50: The Anniversary Special’ and ‘SNL50: The Homecoming Concert’
The years-long road that led to last week’s “SNL50” events was more than a complex programming campaign for NBCUniversal. It was a test of the company’s pipes.
The Feb. 14 “SNL50: The Homecoming Concert,” held at Radio City Music Hall, and Feb. 16 “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” are pitch-perfect examples of the kind of distinctive live events that NBCU is counting on to deliver lucrative mass audiences amid the ever-increasing fragmentation of TV viewership.
As of Feb. 21, with a few days of delayed viewing and social activity factored in, the anniversary and concert specials, plus the Feb. 16 “SNL50 : The Red Carpet” telecast, have reached 220 million viewers with 3.9 billion minutes viewed across NBC, Peacock, digital and social, according to NBCU research.
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The anniversary special, which ran nearly three and a half hours, has been seen by about 20 million viewers, with NBC accounting for about 16 million. The 50th anniversary season of the show overall has sold out all of its linear and streaming ad inventory. Season 50, which still has nearly three months to go, has delivered “record-setting revenue for any ‘SNL’ season in the history of the franchise,” per NBCU.
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Spearheaded by “SNL” creator-producer Lorne Michaels, the programming and ballyhoo around “SNL50” events offered a chance for NBCU to demonstrate that it can marshal NBC broadcast, Peacock streaming and a handful of digital platforms to deliver a big live turnout. This strategy is key as NBCU pours billions into its new NBA contract, and as it prepares for the divestment of seven linear cable channels, including USA, CNBC and MSNBC, later this year.
In short, NBCU wanted to show that a uniquely NBC event such as “SNL50” could be equal parts celebration and monetization.
“Engineering what became a monocultural moment through ‘SNL50’ weekend and beyond highlights the power of the NBCUniversal ecosystem at work,” Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios, told Variety.
“Broadening and event-izing specials across our platforms provides audiences the flexibility to engage with NBC programming on their own terms,” Langley said. “This leads to multiple ‘watercooler moments’ as people watch, and in many cases rewatch, shows, highlights and clips.”
It was also a respectful nod to the ship’s captain. For Langley, a highlight of the “SNL50” experience “was the overall energy of the weekend in and around 30 Rock — watching people come together to celebrate Lorne and this iconic institution he created.”
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Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of NBCU parent Comcast, emphasized the importance of “SNL’s” longevity and its lasting influence on American culture.
“It’s hard to put into words the impact Lorne Michaels and ‘Saturday Night Live’ have had over the last 50 years,” Roberts told Variety. “ ‘SNL’ broke the mold, launched countless careers and became one of the most iconic fixtures in television history — it’s a time capsule that has had an indelible impact, capturing the zeitgeist of our culture for decades.”
The opportunity to stitch together a big audience – both live and long tail — with “SNL50” was significant because the show already has such a huge footprint across key social platforms (YouTube: 15.5 million subscribers; TikTok: 11.2 million; Instagram: 8.6 million). Its topicality drives a surge of social engagement conversation with every new episode. For all of TV’s expansion, Lorne Michaels and Co. are the only troupers delivering live sketch comedy on a near weekly basis during the traditional September-May TV season.
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“We really leaned on this idea of ‘SNL’ being the ultimate piece of IP for how consumers view content today,” Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships, told Variety. “There is no other property that looks anything like ‘SNL.’ So while it’s 50 years old, it is more relevant today than when it launched in 1975.”
The company-wide activity across NBCUniversal and Comcast to support “SNL50” approached Olympics-level coordination. One important lesson that NBCU has taken away from recent Olympics telecasts is the need to hammer on the tune-in message in the final days before an event. Awareness raised over a long promotional campaign is
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