NBC's late-night stars have delivered decisive victories for the week of September 8-12, as "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" won the 11:35 p.m. ET hour over CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" by a 43 percent margin in adult 18-49 viewers and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" prevailed at 12:35 a.m. over CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" by a 29 percent margin.
Last week, "Tonight" improved on its powerful season-to-date leads despite a Wednesday guest appearance by Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama on "Late Show," an appearance that helped Letterman double his Wednesday results of the prior week. "Tonight" won the night of the Obama interview in adults 18-49 (with a 1.3 rating vs. "Late Show's" 1.1) and finished a tight #2 in total viewers (4.66 million vs. 4.71 million).
For the week, Jay's 43 percent margin over "Late Show" in 18-49 viewers last week is up from his season-to-date 32 percent advantage. In total viewers, Jay won the week by a 40 percent margin, up from 35 percent for the season to date. Despite the Obama appearance on Letterman, "Tonight's" total-viewer average for the week of 4.7 million was the show's highest since the week of June 16-20. Conan led "Late Late Show" for the week by 29 percent in 18-49 viewers and 10 percent in total viewers.
Both Jay and Conan stretched their leads among younger adults, with Jay topping "Late Show" for the week by a 61 percent advantage among adults 18-34 and Conan achieving a 63 percent margin.
For the week of September 8-12, Jay's average 1.704 million adults 18-49 topped the 1.191 million of Letterman; in total viewers, Jay's audience of 4.708 million persons beat Letterman's 3.366 million; and in adults 18-34, Jay's 647,000 out-delivered Letterman's 402,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Conan's 907,000 adults 18-49 for the week out-delivered Ferguson's 704,000; in total viewers, Conan's 1.872 million beat Ferguson's 1.704 million; and in adults 18-34, Conan's 407,000 topped Ferguson's 249,000.
At 1:35 a.m. ET for the week, encore telecasts of "Last Call with Carson Daly" pulled within a tenth of a rating point of Ferguson originals in adult 18-49 rating (0.4 vs. 0.5). In the valuable adult 18-34 demo, "Last Call" tied both Ferguson and ABC's Kimmel (0.4 each). Kimmel was in originals three of five nights last week.
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of September 8-12. Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live plus same day.")
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 1.3/5
CBS "Late Show," 0.9/4
ABC "Nightline," 1.1/4
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/3*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.7/4
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.5/3
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.4/3 (in encore telecasts)
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 4.7 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.4 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.7 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Kimmel," 1.6 million viewers*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.9 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.7 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 1.2 million viewers (in encore telecasts)
* "Kimmel" was in rebroadcast on Monday and Thursday.
SEASON-TO-DATE AVERAGES
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 1.4/6
CBS "Late Show," 1.0/4
ABC "Nightline," 1.0/4
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/3
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.8/4
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.5/3
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.4/3
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 4.8 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.5 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.3 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Kimmel," 1.6 million viewers
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.9 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.7 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 1.1 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 8-12
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, "The Daily Show," 0.5
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, "The Colbert Report," 0.3
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.8
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.4
Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.31 million viewers
TOTAL VIEWERS
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, "The Daily Show," 1.1 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, "The Colbert Report," 0.7 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.9 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.1 million
According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week. Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live plus same day."
Source: NBC Press Release
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
