NEW YORK -- "Saturday Night Live" continues to go on a ratings tear, thanks in part to another appearance by Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Chris Parnell as presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer.
"SNL" averaged a 6.0 overnight rating/15 share in the metered markets, Nielsen Media Research said Sunday afternoon. That's up 46% compared to last season's third telecast on 4.1/10 on Oct. 13, 2007. It's also up in the ratings 52% compared to the first three episodes of last season, which began later than "SNL" did this year.
"SNL" was also the highest-rated program of the night on broadcast TV.