via press release:
"Late Show" Beats "The Tonight Show" in Viewers For the Third Consecutive Week-First Time Since July 1995
Dave Ties Conan in Adults 25-54 and Continues To Narrow the Gap Among Adults 18-34
"Late Show" Also Tops "Nightline" in Viewers and Demos
"The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Tops "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" By Its Largest Margin in Viewers and Wins in Adults 25-54 for the First Time
CBS's LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN beat "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" in viewers for the third consecutive week while continuing to narrow the demo gap, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending July 24.
This marks the first time LATE SHOW has notched three consecutive wins over "The Tonight Show" with first-run broadcasts since the weeks of July 21, July 28 and Aug. 4, 1995.
LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN delivered a 2.4/06 in households with an average of 3.32m viewers, up +14% in households (from 2.1/06) and +16% in viewers (from 2.87m) compared to the same week last year.
LATE SHOW beat "The Tonight Show" in households (2.4/06 vs. 1.8/05, +33%) and viewers (3.32m vs. 2.51m, +32%). This is the third consecutive week first-run episodes of LATE SHOW beat first-run "The Tonight Show" broadcasts.
Among adults 18-34, LATE SHOW has cut "The Tonight Show's" lead from -1.6 in Conan O'Brien's premiere week to just -0.4 in the week ending July 24, the smallest margin yet. For the second time in three weeks, LATE SHOW tied "The Tonight Show" in adults 25-54. For the second consecutive week, LATE SHOW is just -0.2 behind "The Tonight Show" in adults 18-49.
LATE SHOW also topped "Nightline" in viewers (3.32m vs. 3.16m, +5%), adults 18-49 (0.8/03 vs. 0.7/03, +14%) and adults 25-54 (1.1/04 vs. 1.0/04, +10%).
THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON topped "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" for the second consecutive week in households (1.1/04 vs. 0.9/03, +22%), viewers (1.52m vs. 1.21m, +26%) and adults 25-54 (0.6/03 from 0.5/03, +20%). LATE LATE SHOW beat "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" by its largest margin in viewers since Fallon's March 2009 premiere and for the first time since Fallon's premiere in adults 25-54.
Well, I guess we can move the discussion here now. On top of all this news, did you read the rumor that NBC is thinking of moving Leno to 10:30 due to affiliate fears that viewers will bail after his monologue and skip local news (news would be moved to 10)?
Conan needs something to grab onto quick to stop the bleeding.
I’m sure NBC’s press release will tout Conan’s huge advantage in the Andy Ricter fan club demo – that may be all they are left with in a couple of weeks. It sure will be interesting once Jay is back on the air.
SB, pretty much all the rumors out there now about NBC/Conan/Jay are just crazy talk.
The one you cited, in which NBC would move local news to 10pm and Jay to 10:30. Besides the massive logistical effort that would be involved at the local level (with only 6 weeks to go till Jaytime!), NBC would never give up the last hour of prime time like that. If Jay@10 really does tank, they can put something back into that hour next season. If they give up the time to the local affiliates, it’s gone for good.
Jim, indeed, and you’d think that getting your press release out sooner than the other guy would be an easy way to get at least a bit of advantage in the PR war.
In that regard, ABC has been the winner in recent weeks with CBS close behind. NBC has mysteriously lagged them both.
it would be better for NBC to move the news to 10PM and start Jay at 10:30PM
Bill, its probably cause its harder for NBC to spin the bad ratings
LuigiBros, all the more reason to get in front of the pack!
Bill, the rumor was started by Garth Ancier and reported by Lisa de Moraes on the Washington Post online this morning.
Interesting thought – this is the first time in his broadcast history that Conan has really been a ratings dogfight, and on the losing end at that. Even when he was struggling in the early 90′s, he wasn’t losing to anyone – he was the only network show on back then. Even when Ferguson won a week here and there, it was nothing sustained. Must be a whole new world for O’Brien.
SB, thanks for the tip, I found Lisa’s article. It’s still crazy talk!
I’m a fan of Conan’s, and I watch him every night. I hate to see Conan hurting like this. The way I see it, all the disgruntled Jay Leno viewers moved over to Nightline or Letterman, and Conan’s younger viewers are now being forced to choose between him and Colbert, which airs at the same time. This timeslot is not favorable to Conan.
As long as Jay is a hit at 10pm, Conan will stay at 11:30. NBC can make a lot of money off having Jay succeeding in prime-time, more than they ever did having him at 11:30. This whole change-up was about NBC being able to hold onto both Conan and Jay. If Jay fails at 10pm, look for a major shake-up, because I think then NBC will be far more willing to accommodate Jay and keep him over Conan. But until then, nothing’s changing.
The logical thought would be that SURELY NBC HAS A BACKUP PLAN. But then I remember that it’s NBC.
This is the summer, maybe in the fall with Jay as a lead-in, NBC will go back to the top. NBC’s Late Night schedule is completely different and it will take some time to get used to. And the fight between Letterman and Conan isn’t over yet.
Well let me say that I have peeked in occasionally on Conan since he took over and one of the problems he has is that he is still trying to adjust to 11:30 audiences and what they find funny, and balance that out with what made him funny at 12:30. In reality it’s actually going to take a few years before Conan gets settled in and can find the right balance, then we’ll see if his ratings start to go back up.
That being said, anything that helps Craig Ferguson become the new King of Late Night for real is fine in my book. Though I hope he has a pair of brass ones big enough to say no to CBS should they ask him to replace Letterman at 11:30 in a couple of years.
I know its speculation and all, but I really like the idea of shortening Jay Leno to 30 mins because that way, it won’t suffer the inevitable 2nd-half-hour drop-off. I wonder if that would be a possibility NBC would consider in the future…
Nobody’s going to shorten Jay Leno’s show to half an hour. I am more than sure the contracts he signed for a 10 PM show specify that the show run from 10 to 11. As for moving news to 10 PM instead of 11, that is strictly up to local TV stations, not NBC.
Like I said last week, Colbert isn’t having any effect on Conan. Even when Colbert is in reruns and being watched by well under a million viewers, Conan is still trending down and losing to Letterman. Plus, Colbert has been a frequent guest on Letterman anyway.
Conan actually was in a ratings dogfight for the final years of his Late Night tenure, with Ferguson consistently either tying him, pulling up right behind him, or even just edging him out on occasion. But no, he’s never lost this bad before.
I wonder if Fallon could catch back up to Ferguson if Conan caught back up to Letterman.
TSA–I seriously doubt it, IMO, and I’m not just saying that because I’m a fan of the LLS. The novelty factor is starting to wear off on Fallon’s abilities, and usually a host will start to show something by now that might give the audience reason to stick around, and I don’t think Fallon has shown it to people, not even in brief glimpses. Ferguson, by comparison, still hadn’t made the LLS his own yet, but it had been noticed when he went off-script he got funnier, or when he’d get wrapped up in an interview and forgot to look at the questions the interview was better. Even Conan in his early trainwreck days on Late Night could show very brief glimpses of being funny, and anyone who was a fan of The Simpsons at that time knew Conan could be very funny indeed.
What I think will happen is that Conan may eventually settle in and start to build some of his audience back. But as soon as 12:35 comes around the audience will watch something else besides Jimmy Fallon.
These late night ratings wars beg a huge question for me: Who cares? David Letterman consistently lost to Jay Leno for years, yet CBS kept offering him vast sums of money and he was still considered a legend. Conan is building The Tonight Show from complete scratch and I don’t think anyone, including himself, expected him to win the ratings war just two months in. I’m a huge fan of Conan O’Brien, but I understand that he is an acquired taste. It could take months, even years before he catches up to David Letterman. NBC doesn’t need a backup plan, it just needs time.
As for Jay Leno moving to 10:30, it could go either way for Conan. A Leno bump may prevent his fans from switching channels before Conan, or it could mean trouble for both Conan and Letterman if Leno fans decide his show is the last they want to see for the night. We’ll have to wait and see.
Hey Mr. Gorman,
I’m not sure you are allowed to comment on this but in your opinion, what are the chances that Leno would replace Conan as Tonight Show host? How long of a buffer does Conan have before the execs want Leno back? Wouldn’t that also be a PR disaster? Shouldn’t they let Conan at least finish his 3 years since even Leno was suffering his first couple of years?
I don’t think NBC has a choice but to stick with Conan. Like you pointed out it would be a PR disaster of epic proportions to dump Conan 5 months in and bring Jay Leno back. And Jay isn’t stupid, either–I think he’s figured out what David Letterman eventually figured out when NBC starting thinking of dumping Leno and asking Letterman to return: the Tonight Show is no longer his, and if he were to come in and take over it would be sloppy seconds.
Then again, I wouldn’t put anything past Jeff Zucker, AKA Sauron. He’d be the one person I think who wouldn’t see the problem involved in asking Leno back and dumping Conan.