The end of the writers strike and the return of original shows to late night have been a boon for advertisers, according to EDO, which tracks the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
The season 49 premiere of NBC’s Saturday Night Live was the show’s most effective episode for advertisers since EDO began tracking engagement in 2015.
With former SNL cast member turned Taco Bell spokesman Pete Davidson as host, consumers were 102% more likely to engage with ads, and the show was 8.5% more effective than the next most-engaging episode on a per-person per-second basis.
The show also got a boost from the appearance of power couple Taylor Swift and Jason Kelce.
“SNL's strong performance for advertisers highlights a continued Swift Effect with further star power drawn from guest host Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice, who are all having cultural moments,” EDO said. “The greater ad effectiveness is a result of consumers' hunger for new premium programming and massive star power.”
Previously, the most-engaging SNL episode aired on November 12, 2016, a few days after the presidential election. The episode was hosted by comedian Dave Chappelle and featured Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton playing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on the piano.
