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 The show, which came under fire from Latino groups for
inviting the blunt-spoken Republican presidential frontrunner to
host, garnered a 6.6 rating in the 56 U.S. markets measured by
Nielsen Media Research, NBC said in a statement.
The Trump show was the highest rating for SNL since Jan. 7,
2012, when an episode hosted by retired basketball star Charles
Barkley pulled in a 7.0 rating, said the Comcast Corp.-owned
network.
Saturday's rating was about 50 percent higher than the season
premiere on Oct. 3 when Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary
Clinton made a cameo appearance, according to CNNMoney.com.
Ratings are a measure of the audience as a percentage of all
television households, whether their sets were turned on or not
during the show's time slot.
Trump's appearance received an avalanche of advance publicity
when Hispanic groups objected to NBC's decision to invite the
billionaire developer, saying it was legitimizing his "racist"
views on immigration.
Even so, many critics say the SNL skits featuring Trump didn't
quite live up to all the hype.
"Viewers tuned in to see a joyless, nearly unfunny show, which
ended in a curtain call with Mr. Trump and the cast that played
like a hostage video," wrote New York Times television critic
James Poniewozik.
Before the show, Latino activists demonstrated outside NBC's New
York studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
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The former star of reality TV show "The Apprentice" outraged many
Americans in June when he described Mexican immigrants as rapists
and drug smugglers. While he made a crackdown on illegal immigration
a main campaign theme, Trump has also said many of his employees are
Hispanics and that they love him.
The show made reference to that controversy when comedian Larry
David, in an obvious send-up, called out "Donald Trump is a racist!"
to an apparently unfazed Trump. David then told the host that he was
seeking a $5,000 bounty that a website called DeportRacism.com
promised to pay for on-air heckling.
Trump told CNN on Sunday that he vetoed some of the more risque
skits, and earlier in the week he told Fox News it was because he
didn't want to alienate voters in Iowa, home of the first event in
the 2016 presidential nominating contest.
(Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by
Frank McGurty and Mary Milliken)
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