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Dave? Conan? No,
'Nightline' is tops.

ABC late-night news show is No. 1 in total viewers

By Toni Fitzgerald
Jul 27, 2009

A surprising victor has emerged in the 2009 edition of the late-night wars, and it’s not Conan O’Brien or David Letterman.

It’s “Nightline,” ABC’s long-running newsmagazine, which has been little more than an afterthought in the late-night race over the past decade and a half.

When “Nightline” has received attention, it’s usually been press speculation over when the show will be canceled.

That speculation surfaced in 2002, when word leaked that ABC was wooing David Letterman. It popped up again in 2005, when longtime host Ted Koppel retired, and once more in 2008, when ABC went after NBC’s Jay Leno.

But “Nightline” has endured, and now it’s become the No. 1 show in late night.

“Nightline” won the week ended July 19 among total viewers for the fourth straight time, marking the first time since 1995 that the show has won four weeks in a row.

“Nightline” averaged 3.74 million total viewers, according to Nielsen, compared to 3.45 million for CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” and 2.71 million for NBC’s “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.” “Tonight” set an all-time low for the second straight week.

NBC argues that O’Brien’s strength is among younger viewers, and that’s certainly true, but “Nightline” also won the adults 25-54 demo, averaging 1.473 million to O’Brien’s 1.466 million. The two tied with a 1.2 rating, just ahead of Letterman’s 1.1.

“Tonight” did win its sixth straight week among adults 18-49, though its average of 1.0 was behind O’Brien’s six-week average of 1.5.

“Nightline’s” win streak is attributable partly to gains made by the show, which was up 21 percent over the same week last year. But it’s also due in part to “Tonight” losing audience and Letterman not taking full advantage.

“Tonight” was off nearly 40 percent among total viewers compared to the same week last year.

Letterman was actually a bit below his season average of 3.8 million total viewers and 0.2 behind his 1.0 season average among 18-49s, though it was up in both compared to the same week last year.

“Nightline” has kept viewers’ interest with continued coverage of the Michael Jackson saga, exploring who will receive custody of the late singer’s children, and the death of Walter Cronkite, the focus of the July 17 edition.

Still, most people remain more interested in how the O’Brien-Letterman standoff will turn out. Letterman posted his second straight weekly victory over O’Brien among total viewers, the first time the CBS host has topped “Tonight” for two straight weeks since 1998.

O’Brien is well behind where Leno was among total viewers, but he has yet to lose a single night to Letterman on the measure used to sell the late-night programs, 18-49s.

Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.	© 2010 Media Life Magazine

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