Saturday Night Live is one of the most emblematic programs in television history, and he is currently in his 50th season. To celebrate this success, NBC and showrunners, including Lorne Michaels, planned, products and well executed – all live – the SNL 50th Anniversary Special, which was broadcast a few weeks ago on February 16, 2025.
Rather than pulling a classic TV antenna or opting for my live Hulu TV subscription, I decided to open Peacock, using an Apple TV 4K – one of the best streaming devices – to finally watch the special birthday. This is not the first time that I have turned to the streaming service belonging to the NBC to watch a live event, this honor goes to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in which I also used the multi-genit functionality to look at several competitions at the same time.
This time, I was welcomed with an SNL 50 superposition and I was able to jump directly in the live broadcast of the show in one click. For those who wonder, I jumped halfway through the opening with Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter on one of the best streaming services.
The stream started without hitch and looked quite clear if I say it myself. I also did not encounter lullabies or a stop in the flow, and I have not even seen advertisements either – rather, I was presented a text in the direction of “The 50th anniversary SNL would soon resume” with the theme song playing on a loop and various glamorous shooting of the studio 8h acclaimed where the show saves.
It was a great experience for a live event, an easy way to watch the special 50th without the need for a linear television experience, and it went almost without a hitch. Something that the linear diffusion for some has not been as a special. Despite this, 14.8 million viewers through Peacock and NBC (Linear TV) watched the special live or in the same day. This makes it the highest NBC event in the past five years, beating the Golden Globes.
Peacock has a kind of special sauce in the streaming services sector – yes, this is a new offer since its first in 2020, but it is supported by NBC, which has been in the field of live television and events that have been riding in real time for years. The streaming service also knows how to organize your back -up with other elements and live events. We have seen with the Paris Olympic Games the possibility of looking at each individual category, some together in multivalers, and a draft of new content, including Snoop Dog at the Games and a show organized by Alex Cooper.
The takeover SNL 50 was a similar feat, which aimed to let fans reach the content they wanted – whether all the episodes of the 50th season or the previous ones, specially published documentaries, or even the Homecoming SNL 50 concert, which also broadcast live on Peacock. We will also see a similar takeover on March 21, 2025, when Wicked Hit Peacock and begins to broadcast for all service subscribers.
Build a platform that supports the highest performance levels
Addressing Techradar, Patrick Miceli, CTO of Global Streaming and the NBCU Media Group, said that since the creation of PEACOCK, “we have invested in the creation of a platform and a technical infrastructure that supports the highest levels of performance, security and reliability to offer a seamless and incomparable experience for our customers.”
Miceli also noted that even with the complexities of live broadcasting, Peacock has “reached a success rate of 100% in video quality and reliability on our coverage of the NFL and the Olympic Games last year”. This comes when other services, including Netflix with the Logan Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, had trouble keeping watercourses afloat with high audience demand.
It is enough to say that Peacock and NBC as a whole were confident to spend the weekend with the Olympic Games, the NFL Games and other events, including the parade of the day of Thanksgiving of Macy in history books. However, Miceli shared: “We still spend a lot of time preparing for each event, which represents a variety of different scenarios to ensure that we are ready for everything”.
I was impressed by Peacock’s performance, and countless others shared that the flow was a better interpreter on social networks using the hashtag # SNL50. Given the performance here, I can’t wait to see what type of Peacock package is organizing special events, live events like the next Olympic Games and NBA matches, which will arrive at the streaming service in 2025.
Of course, even if it is not live, I will always head to Peacock whenever I need my bravo corrective as Summer housereruns of Vanderpump rulesOr a rewatch of a timeless classic with old SNL Amy Poehler (Parks and leisure).
