"Saturday Night Live" was HUGE in the ratings last year. It finished with its most-watched season in 23 YEARS. It also finished as the 18th most-watched show in all of primetime, if you don't count the NFL.
Obviously, there will be plenty of comedic material to work with again this year . . . and the show's ad prices are shooting THROUGH THE ROOF.
Two years ago, the average cost of a 30-second spot during "SNL" was $89,500. Last year, that jumped to $147,000. So far this season, NBC is getting an average of $230,000, which is an increase of 149% from two seasons ago . . . pre-Trump.
And some spots are going for as much as $300,000 apiece.
"SNL" is making so much money from TV and online advertising that this season they actually cut back on ads 30%, which removed two commercial breaks.
Unfortunately, there will be less Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton and Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer this season . . . but Alec Baldwin is back as President Trump and most of the rest of the cast has returned.
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