via CBS press release:
LATE SHOW" AUDIENCE CONTINUES TO GROW
"Late Show" Up Versus Same Week Last Year, Versus Last Summer and Television Year-to-Date
Tops "The Tonight Show" for the Seventh Consecutive Week in Viewers...First in Adults 25-54
"The Late Late Show" Notches Its Sixth Straight Win in Viewers and Places First in Adults 25-54
CBS's LATE SHOW with DAVID LETTERMAN continues to grow its audience, posting audience gains versus the same week last year, versus last summer and television year-to-date, according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings through the week ending Aug. 21.
LATE SHOW delivered a 2.4/06 in households with an average of 3.41m viewers, up +26% in both households (from 1.9/05) and viewers (from 2.70m) compared to the same week last year (a week of rebroadcasts). LATE SHOW was up +22% in adults 25-54 (1.1/05 from 0.9/03), +14% in adults 18-49 (0.8/04 from 0.7/03) and even in adults 18-34 (0.5/02) compared to the same week last year.
Compared to last summer (from 6/1/09 when Conan O'Brien debuted as host of "The Tonight Show" through 8/21/09), LATE SHOW is up +11% in viewers (3.44m vs. 3.10m).
Television year-to-date, LATE SHOW is up +5% in viewers (3.71m from 3.54m) compared to last year.
In the week ending Aug. 21, LATE SHOW beat "The Tonight Show" rebroadcasts in households (2.4/06 vs. 1.8/05, +33%) and viewers (3.41m vs. 2.47m, +38%). The programs were tied in adults 25-54 (1.1/05, each). This marks LATE SHOW'S seventh consecutive weekly win in viewers over "The Tonight Show."
THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON rebroadcasts posted a 1.1/04 in households with 1.53m viewers, up +10% in households (from 1.0/04) and +18% in viewers (from 1.30m) compared to the same week last year (also a week of rebroadcasts). THE LATE LATE SHOW was up +20% in adults 25-54 (0.6/03 from 0.5/03), +25% in adults 18-49 (0.5/03 from 0.4/02) and +33% in adults 18-34 (0.4/02 from 0.3/02) compared to the same week last year.
THE LATE LATE SHOW beat "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" rebroadcasts in households (1.1/04 vs. 1.0/03, +10%) and viewers (1.53m vs. 1.28m, +20%) for the sixth consecutive week and tied "Late Night" in adults 25-54 (0.6/03 vs. 0.6/04).
The Demo gap is tightening. Both Letterman and ABC are doing respectable across the board. No one will be going out of business anytime soon. To me it would appear that Conan will either grow with Leno or be reduced to “left over” status following the late local news.
If Letterman can only tie/barely edge out Conan in 25-54 during Tonight Show reruns, I don’t ever see him winning the demos. He’s looking good in the senior homes though, and overall. Weird to think he was once considered too hip for 11:30 and now he’s not hip enough. It’s pretty interesting though compared to Leno vs Letterman, because now you win no matter who you’re a fan of. If you’re a Letterman fan, you’re watching the most watched late night talk show on television. If you’re a Conan fan, you’re watching the hippest late night talk show on television. If you’re a Nightline fan… well man, it sucks being the middle child, doesn’t it?
QUOTE: you’re watching the hippest late night talk show on television. END QUOTE
I believe the hippest would be The Colbert Report and The Daily Show. Sure they don’t do excellent, but I believe they skew pretty young.
RJ: Yeah, I considered them as I was typing that, but they don’t beat out Conan in the younger demos, so in that sense he’s the “hippest”.
As a disclaimer, I haven’t posted here before but I visit regularly. I have been interested to see how the whole Letterman/Conan thing would play out in ratings (and also among supporters of both hosts). I actually like both guys and I’m happy for Dave that he’s doing better and I’m confident Conan will settle in after a while.
The one thing I will say however that sides with one over the other is that I think Dave has had some pretty interesting interviews lately and has used his better interviewing skills to his advantage.
By chance I caught the the Anna Wintour interview the other night while flipping through the stations and thought it was probably one of the better interviews I’ve seen on late night in a long time. The Donald Trump interview had some great moments too.
Frankly I can’t say if the act of flipping through the channels was because I was bored with Conan, but I definitely stayed on Dave because it was such a compelling interview.
I really want to see flo rida perform on that show.
Mr. Seidman – CBS – and ABC with respect to Nightline – like to stress the 25-54 audience, obviously because they skew older in any event. Isn’t there an argument to be made these days that the 25-54 demo is the new 19-49 demo since boomers spend more and are generally more youthful in their approach to life then the 50+ crowd from the previous generation?
i always watched jay every night… now i get more sleep.. letterman and obrien just do it…..both are jerks and not funny.. letterman is a leftwing loon and obrien is just plain stupid.
Watch Letterman and Obrien tank when Leno does the 10pm show. Letterman is 10 years beyond interesting and Obrien never got there.
i question the sanity of nbc. any idiot would have known what would happen if jay left and conhan took over. the network is history–all those involved should be fired…
Amazing. Just because Letterman dislikes (to put it mildly) the worst president in history, some neocon calls him a left-wing loon. I think the 10-15% dead-enders who still like Bush are the real (right-wing) whackos.
I’m in the minority who thinks Letterman and O’Brien are both funnier than Leno, although I might watch Leno if there was nobody else. Letterman is personally conservative but kowtows to the liberal zeitgeist. I thought McCain a warmongering clown, but Letterman went way overboard with the “old” jokes. Lettterman is also suffering a severe case of man-love for Obama, which he may or may not get over. Jon Stewart is the only one to dip his toe into anything resembling making fun of Obama.
Letterman is still doing the same junk from 20 years ago and has to rely on ratings from the left-wing nut jobs out there who still think he’s funny. Dave…..GET SOME NEW MATERIAL!
I agree with Harry,”i always watched jay every night… now i get more sleep.. letterman and obrien just do it…..both are jerks and not funny.. letterman is a leftwing loon and obrien is just plain stupid.
I was once his biggest fan, but Letterman’s show hasn’t been the least bit entertaining since he decided to stop doing comedy and focus 100% on his leftist politics. He is mentally ill, and obviously hates this country and half of its citizens. Oh, and Carter was BY FAR the worst president in history.
All the right-wingers seem to forget the 8 years of Clinton jokes Dave did. His jokes about Bush were no worse than anything he said about Billary.
I go with Bob and JT. Letterman is a sad, hateful caricature and no longer the least bit funny. And what’s with the white socks? Does he have chronic athelete’s foot?
Hey, this is NOT a political site! LOL! Take it somewhere else. Dave makes fun of everyone INCLUDING Sarah Palin!
letterman is no longer entertaining. He is in the same realm as a Mathews or Oberman. We want to be entertained, not listen to your personal politacal views.
fpg, did you feel the same when he did jokes about Bill and Hillary every night for 8 years?