Trump lifts ‘SNL’ rating, but Palin did better

NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hosting stint on “Saturday Night Live” lifted the NBC program to its highest rating since Jan. 7, 2012.

The Saturday telecast averaged a 6.6 rating and a 16 percent share of the TV audience in the 56 markets that Nielsen tabulates for overnight ratings. It was the strongest overnight number for “SNL” since former NBA star Charles Barkley hosted the program.

But Trump falls far short of the 10.7 overnight rating the show received on Oct. 18, 2008, when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was featured.

At the time, it was the highest rated “SNL” in 14 years.