The draw of Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake's recent Saturday Night Live visit extended well beyond the Dec. 21 telecast on NBC.
After hitting a two-year high with a 3.7 rating among adults 18-49, the series has since grown 50 percent with DVR views -- making it most time-shifted episode in SNL history. Final live-plus-seven returns for the episode give it a 5.55 rating among adults 18-49, a boost of 1.83 points.
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The cumulative rating now makes it SNL's highest showing since a NFL-boosted episode in January 2011. And ignoring all NFL lead-ins, it marks the show's biggest outing since Betty White hosted with a slew of former female cast members -- Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon -- back in 2010.
Among total viewers, SNL climbed from 9.44 million to 13.12 million viewers.
Timberlake's appearances on SNL have typically brought lifted ratings, but the interest also bodes well for Fallon. The Late Night host makes the transition to The Tonight Show in February.
