• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 10, 2009

The journalistically minded "Nightline" seems to have stolen the thunder of the late-night entertainment shows. In recent days this had much to do with quick-hit of "Nightline"'s coverage of Michael Jackson's passing, a big entertainment draw.

The ABC show had big week-to-week gains among all viewers, with 4.02 million viewers as compared to 3.58 million for CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and 2.42 million for "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien." ("Nightline" had the benefit of O'Brien's slow-to-resume-good-ratings performance after a week of reruns.)

It also won among key 18-49 viewers, as well as winning among key demos for TV news advertisers, that being the older 25-54 crowd. All this would seem a vote for real journalism among late-night TV viewers. To purists, however, a real test would come from more mainstream topics such as Iran or the President's new health-care plan.

That said, one key piece of research for "Nightline" shows a nugget of positive long-term data: It is 13% higher among total viewers in this season to-date.

Considering all the emphasis placed on late-night talk-show efforts, this is a big victory. And come September, even better results could be on the way.

That's when Jay Leno's 10 p.m. show appears on NBC -- where executives say his show might dilute viewers of all late night/talk shows, as well as more directly affecting "The Tonight Show" in terms of getting topnotch guests, and with that, some viewers.

But few have talked about what Leno's show might mean for "Nightline."   With three shows now vying for the late-night talk/entertainment-guest genre from 10 p.m. to 12:30 p.m., a news program like "Nightline" could show itself as an undervalued late-night jewel .