To see past weeks' Late Night TV ratings information click here.
Via NBC's Press Release
'Tonight Show' AND 'LATE NIGHT' SCORE #1 RANKINGS FOR THE WEEK OF OCT. 22-26, GENERATING SEVEN-WEEK RATINGS HIGHS
JAY LENO AND JIMMY FALLON TOP THEIR TIME-PERIOD COMPETITION ON ABC AND CBS IN EVERY KEY RATINGS MEASURE
THE OCTOBER 24 APPEARANCE BY PRESIDENT OBAMA ON 'TONIGHT' DELIVERS JAY'S BIGGEST WEDNESDAY AUDIENCE SINCE MARCH 2011
THROUGH THE SEASON'S FIRST FIVE WEEKS, JAY HAS INCREASED HIS YEAR-AGO MARGINS OVER 'Late Show' IN 18-34, 18-49 AND 25-54
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – November 2, 2012 – NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" have generated seven-week highs to finish #1 for the late-night week of October 22-26 with bigger audiences than the time-period competition on ABC and CBS in every key category: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.
Wednesday's "Tonight Show," which featured as guest President Barack Obama, averaged 4.6 million viewers, the most for a Wednesday telecast of "Tonight" since March 23, 2011. That Wednesday result helped boost "Tonight" and "Late Night" to their biggest weekly adult 18-49 audiences (1.1 million and 675,000 viewers respectively) since September 3-7, the week of the Democratic National Convention. In total viewers, it’s the top "Tonight' week (3.7 million) since July 23-27, which included the high-rated night of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Through the first five weeks of the 2012-13 season, "Tonight" has stretched its leads versus one year ago over CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" in viewers 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54. In viewers 18-49, "Tonight" has established a margin over "Late Show" of 9 percent (981,000 vs. 900,000), eliminating last year's "Late Show" advantage of 2 percent. Jay has also generated a 25-54 advantage this season of 6 percent (1.249 million vs. 1.182 million) after trailing by 1 percent at this point last year, while stretching his 18-34 lead to 25 percent (340,000 vs. 273,000), up from last year’s 9 percent.
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of October 22-26. Ratings reflect “live plus same day” data from Nielsen Media Research 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.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 0.9 rating, 4 share
CBS “Late Show,” 0.7/3
11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET
ABC “Nightline,” 0.9/3
12 midnight-1 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/3*
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 0.5/3
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.4/2
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/2 (in encore telecasts)*
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 3.7 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.2 million viewers
11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET
ABC “Nightline,” 3.9 million viewers
12 midnight-1 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.9 million viewers*
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.7 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.5 million viewers
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.9 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*
* "Kimmel" was an encore on Monday and Friday. Monday's "Last Call" was an original.
SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 0.8 rating, 3 share
CBS “Late Show,” 0.7/3
11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET
ABC “Nightline,” 0.8/3
12 midnight-1 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/3
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 0.5/3
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.4/3
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/2
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 3.3 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.0 million viewers
11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET
ABC “Nightline,” 3.8 million viewers
12 midnight-1 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.9 million viewers
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.6 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.5 million viewers
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.9 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF OCTOBER 22-26
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.9
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.7
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, “Conan,” 0.5
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.9
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.6
Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.27 million viewers
TOTAL VIEWERS
Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. “The Daily Show,” 2.0 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, “The Colbert Report,” 1.5 million
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, “Conan,” 0.9 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.9 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.2 million
Great week for all late night talk shows.
3.2 million viewers is the biggest audience Letterman has had in six months.
Tony, maybe not so great for Dave, putting up a 0.7 despite the big Trump booking.
Obviously Jay was saved by Obama. Too bad that show missed sweeps by one night.
It could be that people are tired of Trump.
The Daily Show continues to put up fantastic numbers.
Leno is still da man!
Kimmel is definitely the turtle in this late night race. Slow and steady wins the race. He slowly but surely builds a better show. Slowly but surely builds better ratings. And when he gets to 11:35pm, he’ll slowly but surely build himself into the better host when compared to his two competitors.
This is exactly why I think Kimmel is going to soar, because he progresses into being a better late night host. He might not be the best, but each year is better than the last which is hard to say for anyone else in the late night war or even in show business. Finding someone or some show that gets better with age like fine wine, that’s truly something special.
“Finding someone or some show that gets better with age like fine wine, that’s truly something special.”
That’s exactly what Conan O’Brien did on Late Night. That’s why he was promised The Tonight Show.
Fortunately for Kimmel, there is no Jay Leno to tarnish his promotion.
Just watched Jimmy Kimmel’s interview with Letterman.
- Definitely an interview of dog and master
- Kimmel shouldn’t have displayed all his Letterman knowledge on stage like that like he knew how much.
- Kimmel should have explained things to the audience that wasn’t common knowledge like who Henry was (Letterman’s kid).
- David Letterman, Tom Brokaw, and Ted Turner all living in the same area!? Wow!
- Amazed Letterman was so welcoming to Kimmel moving forward to 11:35pm, not upset about the new competition.
- Seems like most Late Night hosts are great when outside of their shows. I would say all but I thought Stewart/Colbert pack on JKL was garbage.
Just my thoughts I wanted to share.
There is this curious passage in the Carter book for those who have not read it when Letterman’s people asked Conan if he wanted to take part in the Superbowl commercial with Oprah, Leno, and Letterman.
[It could only help rehabilitate Jay in the nation's eyes: all the late-night warriors, cozying up. The message, Conan believed, would be: See? It's all just smoke and mirrors, folks. Or as Jay himself had put it, it would be "big-time wrestling"---all fake, all a game. Ross sent back word: Conan was a no.]
[Jimmy Kimmel couldn't believe his eyes. Dave was throwing Jay a life preserver. He later went on Dave's show as a guest and tweaked him about it, after Dave said how much fun he'd had bashing Jay. Jimmy said Jay had been drowning; they could have finished him off. The two of them had a laugh about it. Kimmel had thought about it a lot and realized the ad represented Dave sending a message: This is still about two guys at the top; I don't need these other hangers-on cluttering up the late-night stage.]
Brad,
I heartily disagree with you on Kimmel. He is not going to soar because he has no wings to soar with. He’s not attractive, he’s not naturally clever, i.e., is heavily dependent on writers, and he can’t sell a so-so joke. Only Chelsea Handler has a more lifeless delivery.
You say Kimmel has “progressed.” I think we can make a case that American entertainment has devolved, making the same old Kimmel seem improved by comparison. If Honey Boo Boo’s neck crust is our new television standard, then even the lackluster (which is the perfect word to describe him) Kimmel looks a little shinier than he used to.
We’ll see.
Brad, I agree with Monikka. Leno will destroy Kimmel once they go head to head. Even Carter said Leno’s fan base is very loyal. ABC will regret moving Kimmel since Nightline is doing very well!
“If Honey Boo Boo’s neck crust is our new television standard”
It isn’t. There are plenty of shows that do way better than Honey Boo Boo. But those don’t make as good of a punchline.
Try to make that point again with “If Big Bang Theory is our new television standard…” and see if it holds up as well.
Fallon and Jon Stewart were excellent on NBC’s telethon last night. Makes me think Dave didn’t quite strike the right note in this crisis.
” Tony, maybe not so great for Dave, putting up a 0.7 despite the big Trump booking. ”
Trump? You think Donald Trump is a big star? I don’t think he’s any bigger guest than Jason Sudeikis.
Tony, it’s about timing. Trump was massive at that moment because he had just become the laughingstock of the nation with his misfiring political gambit.
In other words, Dave might have had Marv Albert on 75 times and it wasn’t a notable booking. But the night he had Marv on after Marv’s indictment, it was a massive ratings event.
I still don’t think Kimmel is going to somehow magically be loved at 1130 and beat everybody but we’ll see.
Week of October 22, 2012
PROGRAM AVERAGES TOTAL VIEWERS A25-54(000)/ Rtg A18-49(000)/ Rtg
ABC ”Nightline” 3,881,000 1,469,000/ 1.2 1,118,000/ 0.9
CBS “Late Show” 3,178,000 1,165,000/ 1.0 880,000/ 0.7
NBC “Tonight Show” 3,684,000 1,440,000/ 1.2 1,141,000/ 0.9
Gary Middleton said : “Try to make that point again with “If Big Bang Theory is our new television standard…” and see if it holds up as well.”
A revised premise requires a revised argument. Here you go: “If Big Bang Theory is our new television standard, then the lackluster Kimmel looks even duller by comparison.”
I’m a little worried about late night television right now! All of the late night talk show hosts except for Carson Daly have repeated the same thing that Johnny Carson has done on The Tonight Show way back in 1962. On top of that, Kristen Bell pretty much has signed a deal with CBS, WorldWide Pants, and Green Mountain West to have a late night talk show after David Letterman and Craig Ferguson at 1:30 in the morning. That’s crazy! The only late night replacement that everybody’s talking about right now is Chelsea Handler, who is on E!, and nobody really watches her to begin with. By the way, who watches her show every night anyway?! Her jokes sound worse than Craig Kilborn’s old jokes!
I can’t believe that late night television has gone crazy! Arsenio Hall’s coming back next year, Kristen Bell’s going to follow Craig Ferguson and David Letterman on CBS at 1:30, and we have VH1 entering the late night race also! This has gone too crazy! I’ve just heard something that’s stupid and idiotic, while being strange at the same time. Snooki from “The Jersey Shore” show is entering the late night talk show race. Come on! We all know that she’s drunk on the show, and we all know that she has just gotten a child not even 3 months old yet; however, she’s not ready to host a late night talk show yet. Besides, she still has her big fat belly from her pregnancy days; which she will never lose because she’s always hungry for junk food. Anyways, she’ll be in last place in the ratings if this page shows us her ratings for her new late night talk show, and that’ll be next to Chelsea Handler’s talk show. Wouldn’t it be better if Craig Kilborn had stayed in late night television? That would’ve been so cool!