What’s on NBC tonight? Here is the full NBC schedule for Saturday, October 31, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

NBC saves its best for 11:30pm, and the day is sport until then

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

Saturday Night Live at 11:30pm ET is the reason to be on NBC tonight, and it is a bigger reason than usual. It lands on Halloween, as episode four of season 52, with Inde Navarrette and Gracie Abrams named in the billing. It runs 93 minutes, and as a live show it airs at one moment nationwide: 11:30pm ET, 8:30pm PT.

Nothing else on the network competes with it, because the half hour before it is local programming and the evening before that is football. That clear run-up makes the night an easy one to plan around.

The football night

At 7:30pm ET (4:30pm PT) NBC starts its college football game, 210 minutes long, preceded at 7pm ET by Big Ten Countdown. Live sport has no West Coast delay, so the kickoff is the same moment everywhere. On its listed length the game ends around 11pm ET, which leaves a half hour of local programming before SNL.

I have given the game three stars. It is a solid, familiar way to fill a primetime Saturday, and it is the thing most viewers will be watching at 8pm. I would not tell anyone to skip SNL for it.

An all-sport afternoon

Before the evening, NBC runs an unusually dense sports day. English Premier League Soccer takes 1:30pm ET for two hours (10:30am PT), and Horse Racing follows at 3:30pm ET for three hours (12:30pm PT). Both are live and neither is a cheap filler; they are the network’s afternoon, and a viewer who likes either one will be settled until early evening.

Why I rate them equally at three stars: both are long, both are exactly what they say, and the rating reflects the slot, not a view on any particular fixture or race.

The morning

Weekend Today is on from 7am to 8:30am ET and it is the one news hour that anchors the day. After it, local stations take over, then a run of half-hour weekend-morning shows begins at 10am ET: Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Earth Odyssey with Dylan Dreyer, The Great American Journey and Wild Child. These are a block, not individual events, and they air again in the same slot a week later, so they are best treated as background viewing.

Overnight and the gaps

Late Night with Seth Meyers comes on at 12:37am ET, followed by NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas and Top Story with Tom Llamas. Then Open House Outrageous and a pair of 1st Look half-hours run before the local stations take over for the rest of the early morning. NBC Nightly News also returns at 6:30pm ET as the lead-in to football.

The plan

Do the football in the evening if you want it, and be back for 11:30pm ET. If you only have time for one thing, make it SNL.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: College Football (from 7:37pm ET)
  • CBS: FBI
  • FOX: 2026 World Series
  • PBS: Secrets of the Dead
  • The CW: WWE NXT (from 7pm ET)
  • ION: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
  • TCM: Dracula
  • AMC: Halloween (from 7pm ET)
  • FX: Ghostbusters: Afterlife
  • Freeform: Hocus Pocus (from 7:20pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

Is there a movie on NBC tonight?

Yes: College Football (2026) at 7:30pm ET.

What’s on NBC late tonight?

After 11pm ET, NBC has Local Programs at 11pm ET and Saturday Night Live at 11:30pm ET.

What time does NBC’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas at 6:30pm ET.