medialifemagazine.com
Leno, the new-old king of late night
By Diego Vasquez
Mar 5, 2010 - 8:10:20 AM
Is it too early to declare Jay Leno the new king of late night?
NBC famously flubbed by giving Conan O'Brien that distinction a week into his disastrous seven-month stint at "The Tonight Show," when viewers were still sampling amid the late-night shakeup.
The network later admitted that the title had been too hasty, months before canning O'Brien altogether.
But three nights into Leno's return to "Tonight," he's thoroughly dominating the competition and is thus far showing minor night-to-night ratings declines, unlike O'Brien, whose numbers plummeted almost immediately.
On Wednesday night, "Tonight" averaged a 1.5 adults 18-49 rating, bettering CBS's "Late Night with David Letterman" (1.0) and ABC's "Nightline" (0.9) by more than 50 percent, according to Nielsen data.
That was down a tad, 6 percent, from the 1.6 rating Leno earned his first two nights back on the job, just 0.1 rating points, suggesting that most of the viewers for "Tonight" are in it for more than just the curious first nights.
Among total viewers, "Tonight" averaged 5.4 million, with "Late Show" second at 3.7 million and "Nightline" third at 3.4 million, both down a bit from their season averages.
"Tonight" was off from 6.6 million viewers Monday night and 5.8 million Tuesday, but Leno was still slightly above his 2008-'09 season average of 5.2 million.
There will be many, many weeks to parse the winner of this latest late-night battle, but NBC has to be encouraged by the early results.
Despite some speculation that Leno's popularity had been hurt by the whole O'Brien debacle, it seems the reputation issue was more of a media construction than anything else. While some rabid "Coco" fans did hijack a "Tonight" forum with pictures of O'Brien, the backlash has otherwise been all but nonexistent.
Even Letterman has curbed his anti-Leno fervor, on such evident display in January, when the NBC fiasco was going down.
***
In dayparts for the week ended Feb. 28, ABC’s “Nightline” led the week in late night with 3.3 million total viewers, followed by CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” with 3.0 million. In late late night, CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” each averaged 1.5 million viewers. Among 18-49s, “Nightline” averaged a 0.9, with “Late Show” at a 0.8. In late late night, “Late Late Show” and “Kimmel” each averaged a 0.5. All NBC shows were preempted by Olympic coverage, and Monday’s “Kimmel” was an encore.
NBC’s “Meet the Press” was the most-watched Sunday morning show on Feb. 28 with 3.66 million tuning in, followed by CBS’s “Face the Nation” with 2.96 million, ABC’s “This Week” with 2.41 million and “Fox News Sunday” with 1.30 million. Among the 25-54 demographic, NBC and CBS averaged a 0.8 rating, with ABC at 0.6 and Fox at 0.4.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first for the week with 6.28 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.61 million and CBS’s “The Early Show” at 2.72 million. “Today” averaged a 4.7 household rating and a 17 share, with “Good Morning America” at 3.4/12 and “Early Show” at 2.0/7.
In evening network news, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first with 11.12 million total viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 25-54. ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer” averaged 8.13 million viewers and a 1.9 rating, followed by CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” with 6.47 million and a 1.6 rating.
In daytime, CBS was first for the week with 3.84 million total viewers, followed by NBC with 3.22 million and ABC with 3.02 million. Among 18-49s, NBC and ABC each posted a 1.3 average rating, while CBS averaged a 1.1.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending Feb. 28, 2010
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.7 |
7 |
0.8 |
3.657
|
|
Face the Nation
|
CBS |
2.1 |
6 |
0.8 |
2.962 |
|
This Week |
ABC |
1.7 |
5 |
0.6 |
2.409 |
|
News Sunday
|
Fox |
0.9 |
2 |
0.4 |
1.297 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS*
Week Ending Feb. 28, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Nightline
|
ABC |
3.3 |
0.9 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
3.0 |
0.8 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.5 |
0.5 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live |
ABC |
1.5 |
0.5 |
|
Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien |
NBC |
- |
- |
|
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon |
NBC |
- |
- |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly |
NBC |
- |
- |
|
* All NBC shows were preempted by the Olympics.
Monday's "Kimmel" was an encore.
Source: Nielsen |
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending Feb. 28, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today
|
NBC |
4.7 |
17 |
6.280 |
|
Good Morning
America
|
ABC |
3.4 |
12 |
4.610 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.0 |
7 |
2.720 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending Feb. 28, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS
|
3.84 |
1.1 |
|
NBC |
3.22 |
1.3 |
|
ABC |
3.02 |
1.3 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending Feb. 28, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
|
NBC |
2.7 |
11.117 |
|
ABC World News with Diane Sawyer
|
ABC |
1.9 |
8.126 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
|
CBS |
1.6 |
6.469 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending Feb. 21, 2009 |
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
7.2
|
8292
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
6.2
|
7151
|
|
3
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
5.5
|
6292
|
|
4
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.7
|
5343
|
|
5
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.6
|
5335
|
|
6
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
4.4
|
5043
|
|
7
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
3.8
|
4402
|
|
8
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.5
|
3984
|
|
9
|
INSIDE EDITION (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.2
|
3621
|
|
9
|
CSI NEW YORK-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.2
|
3622
|
|
11
|
LAW & ORDER:CI-WKL (AT)
|
NBU
|
3.1
|
3565
|
|
11
|
OFFICE-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
3.1
|
3609
|
|
13
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
2.8
|
3197
|
|
13
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
2.8
|
3175
|
|
15
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.7
|
3155
|
|
15
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
2.7
|
3087
|
|
15
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
2.7
|
3074
|
|
18
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
2.6
|
3004
|
|
18
|
TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.6
|
3015
|
|
20
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.5
|
2878
|
|
21
|
DR. OZ SHOW (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.4
|
2758
|
|
21
|
KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)
|
2/T
|
2.4
|
2773
|
|
21
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT WKD
|
CTD
|
2.4
|
2742
|
|
21
|
ACCESS
HOLLYWOOD (AT)
|
NBU
|
2.4
|
2780
|
|
25
|
ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW
|
WB
|
2.3
|
2624
|
|
Source: Nielsen |
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