In the Friday metered market results The Tonight Show led Late Show in household rating 3.6 vs 2.4. In the 25 local People Meter markets Leno held the edge with adults 18-49 1.2 vs 0.8.
Here's some additional info via NBC:
In Late-Night Metered Markets Friday night:
- "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (3.6/8 in metered-market households) out-delivered CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" (2.4/6) and ABC's "Nightline (2.7/6) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (1.2/4 with an encore telecast) in Nielsen's 56 metered markets.
- In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (1.2/5) ranked #1 among the major networks in the time period over "Late Show" (0.8/3), "Nightline" (0.9/4) and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (0.5/2 with an encore telecast).
- At 12:35 a.m., "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" (1.6/5 in metered-market households) topped CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.3/4). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.7/4 in 18-49) beat "Late Late Show" (0.4/2).
- At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 1.0/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.
Leno's starting to pull away now that this war's beginning to settle
Man…why is he doing so well while in many polls preferred Conan over Leno? This is like an election when an underdog candidate loses in the polls, but wins in the election.
what polls? Scientifically done polls or web site polls?
Both.
Pls link to the scientific polls. Thanks.
I realize this would be extra work but if you could track the guests too it might give insight into ratings for Letterman and Leno. The ratings seesaw a bit so it has to be something other than just a preference for one person over the other. Lead in, guests, day of the week, something…and Letterman's Friday shows are always taped on a different day so the beginning might not be as topical.
I'm reminded of that old line, “How did Nixon win? All my friends voted for McGovern!”
It's a little too easy to visit a bunch of like-minded websites, see that everyone there agrees with you, then assume that it's an accurate reflection of the entire world. However, statistics have always supported the claim that Leno carries a broader appeal than Letterman.
Since Leno's critics love to point out that his comedy is directed at the lowest-common-denominator, why are they always surprised when that's reflected in the ratings?
Cath,
Though I agree guest lineups would add insight, I don't see us going down that road. My guess is soon enough general interest in this info will wane and we won't be posting this information separately (it will be absorbed into the overnight posts). If that guess turns out to be wrong though, any number of changes are possible.
Friday numbers ALWAYS have Letterman underperforming. Letterman tapes his Friday episodes earlier in the week, and it always hurts him. Against Leno, against Conan, and against Leno Mk. II. What's telling is the rest of the week, where Letterman is still losing, but by the smallest margin yet.
All the analysts I read agreed that whoever was on top this time around, it would be closer than it was pre-Conan, and it looks like they were right.
Because the people who prefer Conan over Jay don't necessarily watch Dave now that Conan is off the air.
LOL Jake, great post!
atcat, you need to understand that those polls were taken at a moment in time when somehow the broad population got caught up in an issue it didn't truly know or care that much about. 95% of Oprah viewers polled said they blamed Jay for the fiasco- hey, great. But did they even remember this the next day? Nah.
Team Coco cares deeply and they will show up to protest and fill theaters and look like a very big crowd. But as a percentage of the total population? Not that big.
Mr. Seidman, thanks for the great coverage.
Web polls are full of crap, Leno is likable, he seams more at ease with people, he can get more out of people. coconut fans can bitch all they want Leno fans don't like his shit. It also depends on the guest.
There really was never any doubt that Jay was going to win, the fact is Conan was not that good or funny on The Tonight Show. NBC 10 pm shows are still doing bad, but now the Tonight Show numbers are up, so connect the dots.
Perhaps Conan's fans are more drawn to those polls than Leno fans are. Conan's fans use those polls as a place to vent their frustration that he was canceled, Leno fans are obviously less worried about it.
The problem with those web polls is that Leno's fans don't use the internet. They're either too old to use the computer or they can't get wifi in their trailer parks. But hey, the lowest common denominator is why Transformers 2 made so much money, so there's a fiscally sound reason to keep morons entertained.
Do the Nelsen rating still depend on metered boxes, there chosen at random; I was chosen, but they sent a book spouse to write down, each show you watch. Write down how many people are in your house hold. That was back when there was nothing but doctors and lawyer shows. At the end of the book, they wanted to know what shows you like; said I like fantasy shows, sci-fi action adventure shows, then shows like Hercules, Xena and the Star Trek shows, I wish I can do it again and them I'm sick of realty and stupid game shows. I wish they start counting, TIVO, DVR and online viewing, daytime soaps are about dead, because of the outdated Nelsen system.
Wow, bitter much?
These ratings are all based on people with people meters (no diaries). In the fast national numbers (these are not the fast nationals) DVR is included but only for one night in the overnight numbers (since they are overnight numbers). Online viewing will be counted beginning sometime next year if it was viewed within 3 days of original airing and the online version included the same ads that were on TV.
HA HA….Even Nightline beat Letterman.
Gary M., great points. That Oprah poll was the biggest garbage ever. 95% of people side with Conan??!?? Yeah, right.
What they don't tell you is that most of those 95% could care less about watching Conan. If Conan got anywhere near the ratings that these stupid online polls reflect then he never would've been kicked off the Tonight Show.
Ericinhb, yes you're right. There was never any doubt that Leno was going to regain his throne. There may be a rare night every blue moon where Letterman takes it but other than that Leno reigns supreme.
Conan, on the other hand, is left to just twatting away!! LMAO!!
just wait until conan returns on TV this fall
that will be the moment when jay starts to sink