In his second week back on "The Tonight Show," Jay Leno picked up another win, though this time by a much smaller margin than in week one as the curiosity seekers drifted away.
"Tonight" edged rival "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS by 15 percent in adults 18-49, compared to a hefty 49 percent advantage in Leno's debut week.
Among total viewers Leno's lead shrank as well, going from 53 percent to 17 percent, according to Nielsen data for the week ended March 14.
Leno averaged a 1.2 18-49 rating last week, down 20 percent from his debut and also off from his full-season 2008-'09 average. Letterman posted a 1.0 in both weeks.
Among total viewers, Leno drew 4.4 million in his second week, down 21 percent from his first week. Letterman averaged 3.8 million, up 100,000 from the previous week.
ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.0 for the most recent week, as well as 3.7 million total viewers.
Leno clearly drew some viewers away from Letterman, whose total viewers average has fallen from the 4.1 million who were watching before Leno's return.
And while Leno has won every single night among total viewers since his return, he did fall behind once in 18-49s, suggesting that Letterman may be more competitive than their last go round, when his victories were quite rare.
Mostly what the second week suggests is that, after all the hoopla over the NBC late-night fiasco died down, Leno is not benefiting or hurting from the entire affair. Though his numbers may be down from his last go-round in late night, he's still doing better than Conan O'Brien.
***
In other dayparts for the week, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was the most-watched Sunday morning show on March 14 with 3.04 million tuning in, followed by CBS’s “Face the Nation” with 2.25 million, ABC’s “This Week” with 2.23 million and “Fox News Sunday” with 1.14 million. Among the 25-54 demographic, NBC averaged 876,000 viewers, with ABC at 711,000, CBS at 629,000 and Fox at 399,000.
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first for the week with 5.58 million total viewers, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.65 million and CBS’s “The Early Show” at 2.77 million. “Today” averaged a 4.2 household rating and a 15 share, with “Good Morning America” at 3.5/13 and “Early Show” at 2.1/8.
In evening network news, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first with 9.14 million total viewers and a 2.2 rating among adults 25-54. ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer” averaged 7.95 million viewers and a 1.8 rating, followed by CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” with 6.14 million and a 1.5 rating.
In daytime, CBS was first for the week with 3.71 million total viewers, followed by NBC with 2.93 million and ABC with 2.84 million. Among 18-49s, NBC averaged a 1.3 rating, followed by ABC and CBS at 1.2.
|
SUNDAY MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week ending March 14, 2010
Sunday averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
|
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Adults 25-54 |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Meet the Press |
NBC |
2.2 |
7 |
876,000 |
3.040
|
|
Face the Nation
|
CBS |
1.6 |
5 |
629,000 |
2.254 |
|
This Week |
ABC |
1.6 |
5 |
711,000 |
2.227 |
|
News Sunday
|
Fox |
0.8 |
3 |
399,000 |
1.135 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
LATE-NIGHT RATINGS
Week Ending March 14, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
People 2+ |
Adults 18-49 |
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Rtg% |
|
Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
NBC |
4.4 |
1.2 |
|
Late Show with David Letterman |
CBS |
3.8 |
1.0 |
|
Nightline
|
ABC |
3.7 |
1.0 |
|
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson |
CBS |
1.8 |
0.6 |
|
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon |
NBC |
1.7 |
0.6 |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live* |
ABC |
1.6 |
0.5 |
|
Last Call with
Carson Daly* |
NBC |
0.9 |
0.4 |
|
* Monday's "Last Call" and Friday's "Kimmel" were encores.
Source: Nielsen |
|
MORNING SHOW RATINGS
Week Ending March 14, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
Households |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Shr |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
Today
|
NBC |
4.2 |
15 |
5.580 |
|
Good Morning
America
|
ABC |
3.5 |
13 |
4.650 |
|
Early Show |
CBS |
2.1 |
8 |
2.770 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
DAYTIME RATINGS
Week Ending March 14, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
|
Total viewers (millions) |
Women 18-49 |
|
Network |
(millions) |
Rtg% |
|
CBS
|
3.71 |
1.2 |
|
NBC |
2.93 |
1.3 |
|
ABC |
2.84 |
1.2 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
EVENING NETWORK NEWS RATINGS
Week Ending March 14, 2009
Five-day averages |
|
Program |
Network |
25-54s |
People 2+ |
|
Rtg% |
Total viewers (millions) |
|
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams
|
NBC |
2.2 |
9.140 |
|
ABC World News with Diane Sawyer
|
ABC |
1.8 |
7.949 |
|
CBS Evening News with Katie Couric
|
CBS |
1.5 |
6.138 |
|
Source: Nielsen |
|
SYNDICATION
Ranked on Households
Week Ending March 7, 2009 |
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Syndicator |
Households |
|
US
Rtg% |
(000) |
|
1
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
|
CTD
|
7.4
|
8478
|
|
2
|
JEOPARDY
|
CTD
|
6.4
|
7303
|
|
3
|
TWO-HALF MEN-SYN (AT)
|
WB
|
5.4
|
6247
|
|
4
|
JUDGE JUDY (AT)
|
CTD
|
4.8
|
5472
|
|
5
|
OPRAH WINFREY SHOW
|
CTD
|
4.7
|
5444
|
|
6
|
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT(AT)
|
CTD
|
4.6
|
5294
|
|
7
|
FAMILY GUY-MF-SYN (AT)
|
2/T
|
3.7
|
4253
|
|
8
|
INSIDE EDITION (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.4
|
3894
|
|
9
|
OFFICE-SYN (AT)
|
NBU
|
3.3
|
3739
|
|
10
|
WHEEL OF FORTUNE WKND
|
CTD
|
3.2
|
3726
|
|
11
|
CSI NEW YORK-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
3.1
|
3543
|
|
12
|
DR. PHIL SHOW (AT)
|
CTD
|
3.0
|
3471
|
|
12
|
SEINFELD (AT)
|
SPT
|
3.0
|
3435
|
|
14
|
TWO-HALF MEN WKND B (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3075
|
|
14
|
DR. OZ SHOW (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.7
|
3125
|
|
14
|
GEORGE LOPEZ (AT)
|
WB
|
2.7
|
3104
|
|
14
|
EVRY LVS RAYMOND-SYN(AT)
|
CTD
|
2.7
|
3049
|
|
14
|
SEINFELD-WKND (AT)
|
SPT
|
2.7
|
3080
|
|
14
|
BUENA VISTA
VI
|
DAD
|
2.7
|
3151
|
|
14
|
LAW & ORDER:CI-WKL (AT)
|
NBU
|
2.7
|
3132
|
|
21
|
LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY
|
DAD
|
2.6
|
3017
|
|
21
|
MILLIONAIRE (AT)
|
DAD
|
2.6
|
2959
|
|
23
|
TWO-HALF MEN WKND A (AT)
|
WB
|
2.5
|
2888
|
|
23
|
ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW
|
WB
|
2.5
|
2848
|
|
23
|
KING OF THE HILL-SYN(AT)
|
2/T
|
2.5
|
2889
|
|
Source: Nielsen |
