The late-night talk shows were already hurting, with ratings for top chatters like Jay Leno and David Letterman down 7 percent or more through the first month of the new season.

Now, with production of the shows on hiatus because of the writers’ strike, they’re hurting even more, and it's likely to get much worse.

This week, all five late-night broadcast talk shows are in repeats, as writers who pen the shows’ topical monologues walk the picket lines, and ratings are down for almost all.

Tuesday night’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” averaged a 3.6 household rating in Nielsen metered markets, down 12 percent from a 4.1 the same night last week.

CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” slipped 11 percent, from a 2.8 to a 2.5, while lead-out “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” fell 13 percent, from a 1.5 to a 1.3.

Even ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” which had the advantage of a fresh “Nightline” lead-in, was off 15 percent week to week, from a 2.0 to a 1.7.

NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” was the only program not to see week-to-week declines, staying even at a 1.8 rating.

Right now it looks as if the strike could last weeks more, if not months, which will mean weeks to months of reruns, and that's a real worry for the networks.

A big issue with late-night reruns is that they go stale quickly, unlike reruns of dramas and comedies, tied as the shows are to what's in the news that day.

A rerun of Leno talking about a real news event that actually happened several weeks earlier, say Ellen DeGeneres' on-air breakdown, is going to confuse some viewers but turn off a lot more. They'll realize they've already seen Leno's riff on the matter and turn away.

But one show is sure to gain during the strike. That's ABC’s “Nightline.” It will continue to air fresh every night, since news writers are not on the picket lines, a huge advantage in itself. But also it won't be facing competition from Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” which is also in repeats.

Tuesday night, “Nightline” averaged a 3.5 metered market household rating, down 5 percent from the previous week but still ranking ahead of CBS’s “Late Show” and just a tenth of a point behind leader “Tonight.”

Meanwhile, in late night for the week ended Oct. 28, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” finished first for the week yet again, averaging 4.5 million total viewers and a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49. “The Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS had 3.7 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.6 million viewers and a 1.2 18-49 rating. In late-late night, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” had 2.1 million total viewers and a 0.7 in 18-49s, with NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” averaging 1.9 million viewers and a 0.8, CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 1.6 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” bringing in 1.1 million viewers and a 0.4 among 18-49s.

And in other daypart ratings for the week ended Oct. 28, NBC’s “Meet the Press” finished first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 3.11 million tuning in and among viewers 25-54 with a 0.8 rating. CBS’s “Face the Nation” was second in viewers with 2.25 million and tied for second among 25-54s with a 0.7, with ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” pulling 2.18 million viewers and a 0.7 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” was fourth in viewers with 1.25 million and among 25-54s with a 0.4.
 
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 5.4 million total viewers and a 4.2 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 5.0 million viewers and a 3.9/14. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.7 million total viewers and a 2.1/7.
 
CBS had the largest full daytime audience, averaging 4.13 million viewers, and was second among women 18-49 with a 1.4 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 2.94 million viewers, but was third among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.76 million and was first among women 18-49 with a 1.5 rating.
 
In evening network news for the week ended Nov. 4, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was first among total viewers, averaging 8.57 million, and 25-54s with a 2.1 average rating. NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was second in viewers, averaging 8.26 million, and among 25-54s with a 2.0, while CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 6.22 million total viewers and a 1.5 25-54 rating.