Never underestimate the power of country stars’ followings. Carrie Underwood may not have impressed critics with her performance in NBC’s The Sound Of Music but she made it a ratings blockbuster. Reaction also appears to be mixed to last light’s episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Blake Shelton (the material he was stuck with didn’t do him any favors). But, just like Underwood, Shelton was a ratings hit.

With him as host and musical guest, SNL drew a 4.7 household rating in the metered markets and a 2.2 in adults 18-49 in the markets with local people meters. That was up +15% in households and +10% in the demo from last week’s show hosted by Kevin Hart with musical guest Sia to mark the second-highest SNL episode this season in households behind the highly rated Chris Rock-Prince outing (4.9).