Its hard to imagine better timing for the 44th season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Just two days after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committees Ford-Kavanaugh hearings, the NBC sketch comedy returned to the air with a cold-open segment that focused on that particular political circus.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was, as you might expect, the focus of the opener but the big surprise was that special guest Matt Damon, rather than an SNL cast member, played him. The studio audience seemed thrilled, and social media exploded. And of this writing, the cold open, as posted to the official "SNL" YouTube channel, has racked up more than 11 million views.
To gauge viewer response to both the broadcast and online video versions of Matt Damons star turn, we worked with social video analytics company Tubular Labs and emotion measurement AI company Canvs.
Related: Heres Whos Watching Saturday Night Live and Where Theyre Watching It
But first, some background: According to Tubular, there's been a voracious appetite for clips related to the Ford-Kavanaugh hearings. Since Thursday, videos related to the topic that were uploaded to Facebook received 283 million views, while YouTube videos on the subject have been viewed 121 million times.
Looking specifically at the SNL cold open clip, it's generated 3.9 million views on Facebook and more than 12 million views on YouTube since it was posted early Sunday morning.
According to Canvs, positive emotions dominated during both the SNL premiere on NBC (which generated 48,771 Emotional Reactions) and the cold open clip that SNL uploaded to YouTube (10,760 ERs), with people primarily expressing love and laughter around the show.
Matt Damon, naturally, drove the bulk of emotional conversation for both.
Word cloud of the most-mentioned topics during the SNL premiere on NBC, via Canvs
Word cloud of the most-mentioned topics on the YouTube clip of Matt Damon's cold open, via Canvs
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
14/07/2026
Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...
14/07/2026
Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...
14/07/2026
FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...
14/07/2026
Victory+ telecasts to be simulcast on TEGNA-owned station, expanding free local distribution...
14/07/2026
Plug-ins for heavy music
Avalanche Tones is the brainchild of Ava Toton, a 17-year-old musician and developer who says her goal is to make the lives of gui...
14/07/2026
Launched alongside new Singer Showcase purchase model
IK Multimedia's innovative vocal-synthesis software has just gained its latest voice add-on, the R...
14/07/2026
Registration open until 1 September 2026
The MIDI Association have revealed that the registration deadline for this year's MIDI Innovation Awards has no...
14/07/2026
88-note model completes MK4 range
Novation have just introduced the final model in their flagship MIDI controller keyboard range, the Launchkey MK4 88. Roun...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
IBC2026 has unveiled a powerful Conference programme bringing together global media leaders, technology innovators, creators, sports organisations, broadcasters...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, has delivered two highly capable outsid...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Techtel Successfully Relocates AICD Broadcast Studio to New Sydney Headquarters
BroadcastBroadcast EquipmentLive StreamingBroadcast Studio2026
14 July Writ...
14/07/2026
Tuesday 14 July 2026
First look revealed for Friday the 13th prequel, Crystal ...
14/07/2026
When immersive audio dominates industry headlines, it's easy to assume that every broadcaster is preparing for an Atmos future. The reality is quite differ...
14/07/2026
Emma and Sophie from ICG's marketing team joined thousands of fellow marketers, brands and agencies at MAD//Fest London 2026, one of the UK's biggest ma...
14/07/2026
Why Trusted and Secure Media Operations Matter In this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operati...
14/07/2026
Pilot Project Shows How Retailers Are Prepared for the Next Step in the Evolution of Digital Commerce
Arvato Systems Drives Agentic Commerce Forward
G terslo...
14/07/2026
As part of this commitment, weve joined the SME Climate Hub, publicly pledging to:
measure our greenhouse gas emissions
reduce them in line with a net zero p...
14/07/2026
Power is AI infrastructure's inescapable constraint. How many tokens an AI factory can generate within a fixed power budget determines its revenue and profi...
13/07/2026
The Braves opted to keep production in-house rather than hand it off to MLB...
13/07/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
13/07/2026
Eurovision Sport is making live athletics more accessible to fans than ever befo...
13/07/2026
The Milwaukee Bucks will return to full-season over-the-air television for the 2...
13/07/2026
SMPTE has announced an expanded education pathway for media technology professio...
13/07/2026
Vizrt has announced that its graphics technology was used by broadcast design agency Girraphic for Netflix's debut MVP MMA event, broadcast live from the In...
13/07/2026
ARRI has announced an agreement to sell its global rental activities in Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America to H2 Equity Partners through a management...
13/07/2026
DAZN has announced a partnership with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) to bring PBC fight nights to DAZN subscribers globally. The partnership begins Saturday, Ju...
13/07/2026
TikTok and WSC Sports have announced a strategic partnership that gives sports r...
13/07/2026
Two new Ross products -Brushback: Full Count and CapGo - are debuting at Citizens Bank Park All-Star festivities...
13/07/2026
MSG Networks' was given exclusive access during the Knicks' unforgettabl...
13/07/2026
LOS ANGELES, July 13, 2026 - Sundance Institute today announced the 10 producers selected to participate in its annual Producers Labs taking place July 13-18 fo...
Its hard to imagine better timing for the 44th season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Just two days after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committees Ford-Kavanaugh hearings, the NBC sketch comedy returned to the air with a cold-open segment that focused on that particular political circus.
