• by Wayne Friedman , March 24, 2015

CBS' new hosted "Late Late Show with James Corden" earned strong results, as expected, in its debut outing. "Late Late Show" posted a Nielsen preliminary 1.66 million viewers for its premiere. In comparison, the "Late Late Show" season-to-date average is at 1.393 million overall viewers.

“Late Late Show” also earned a Nielsen preliminary 1.4 household rating versus versus NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” 1.2 household rating. Both shows run 12:35 a.m. to 1:35 a.m ET/PT.

For Corden, who replaced Craig Ferguson, higher overall numbers were expected, considering the heavy promotion by CBS.

Still, NBC’s “Late Night” was up over CBS’ “Late Late Show” when it comes to younger 18-49 viewers -- with a 0.5 rating versus a 0.4 rating.

By comparison, “Late Night” still maintains a healthy lead over “Late Late Show” season-to-date average through March 13 in all: “Late Night” is averaging 1.56 million viewers and 0.49 rating in the 18-49 demographic; “Late Late Show” is at a 1.393 million overall viewers and 0.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

Leading the entire late night daypart on a season-to-date basis is NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”, still way ahead of its competitors -- averaging 4.04 million viewers to CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” and 2.764 million and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 2.755 million.

“Tonight” is also dominant among 18-49ers -- a 1.17 rating; to ABC’s “Kimmel” at 0.64 and “Late Show”’s 0.52.