http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/saturday-night-live-should-start-at-11-p-m.html

Saturday Night Live's 11:30 p.m. ET (technically 11:29 p.m.) start time is due to local news. But as Kelly Conaboy argues, "Saturday Night Live should begin at 11 p.m. A solid, whole number: 11. What time is Saturday Night Live on? 11. That sounds right to me and, I assume, to you. The show is an institution. It started in caveman times on Boulder TV and it deserves a whole number, at least for its dedication to not adjusting its ratio of straight white men to everyone else on staff since. Plus, and perhaps more importantly, we the viewing public are increasingly tired. We deserve a show that begins half an hour earlier and gets us to unconsciousness half an hour sooner, so we can wake up well-rested for another day of just trying to make it through."

ALSO:

Why is SNL's live music so terrible these days? (http://www.realclearlife.com/music/open-letter-snl-live-music-just-sucks/)
SNL hires its first female directing team: Hannah Levy and Adriana Robles are formerly of Funny Or Die (https://news.avclub.com/snl-just-hired-its-first-female-directing-team-1829665976)
Where did Kate McKinnon's Debette Goldry come from? (http://www.vulture.com/2018/10/snl-kate-mckinnon-debette-goldry-anna-drezen-writer-interview.html)

The Point is in the EST Zone, many NBC local stations aired Local News at 11pm. On the other hand, SNL is already in the 2nd Half Hour during the 1st half of 11pm Hour in the CST Zone.