'Leno' Dominates Late-Night TV

by Wayne Friedman , October 4, 2013

“The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” continues to be the top late-night show for the first week of the new TV season.

For the week ending Sept. 27, NBC’s “Tonight” earned a Nielsen 0.9 rating/4 share among key 18-49 viewers (1.2 million viewers) and 3.7 million overall late-night viewers in its 11:35 p.m. time slot.

"Tonight" was up 29% from the same week the year before among 18-49 viewers and 12% more in overall viewers.

CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” was at a 0.6/3 among 18-49 viewers and 3.1 million overall viewers, posting a smaller gain than "Tonight" of 5% versus versus a year ago.

ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was at a 0.7/3 in 18-49 and 2.4 million viewers. It premiered January 2013 in its new 11:35 p.m. time slot.

At 12:35 p.m., NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” was also up nearly 30% to a 0.6/4 in 18-49 and 19% higher to 1.84 million viewers. CBS’ “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” gained 6% in overall viewers -- 1.5 million -- from a year ago and was slightly higher among 18-49 viewers at 0.4/2.

ABC's half-hour “Nightline” at 12:35 p.m. posted a 0.4/2 number for 18-49 viewers and 1.6 million overall viewers.

Cable numbers: Comedy Central's “The Daily Show” earned a 0.7 rating among 18-49 viewers at 11 p.m. and 1.6 million overall viewers. Comedy's “The Colbert Report” was at a 0.6 rating and 1.3 million viewers, and TBS' “Conan” was at a 0.5 number and 900,000 viewers.

broadcasting, cable tv, media measurement, tv

5 comments about "'Leno' Dominates Late-Night TV".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, October 4, 2013 at 8:37 p.m.
Brilliant move by NBC, getting rid of a proven winner.
Reply

Edmund Singleton from Winstion Communications, October 5, 2013 at 3:55 a.m.

We can't have this guy at the top, we have got to get rid of him once and for all...

Edmund Singleton from Winstion Communications, October 8, 2013 at 6:03 a.m.

In a nation where 'old' is the new minority, oops, did I say that?...

Cece Forrester from tbd, October 8, 2013 at 6:19 p.m.

Oh, but those old people are so uncool. We are uncomfortable with demos other than our own, and it's so hard to use our imaginations to figure out what works for them. Let's just advertise stuff we like to ourselves in the media we prefer. There, done.

Edmund Singleton from Winstion Communications, October 9, 2013 at 5:30 a.m.

Just look at all the old broads on broadcast television trying to look younger then their age, they just look odd. Even the young ones think they look better looking odd, they don't have to dye their hair, yet, how strange the world, sorry I'm off topic...but upset about Jay...