Viewers returned to the late night gabfests en masse last night, giving Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Craig Ferguson season high ratings among total viewers.
According to fast national ratings (final numbers will be out next Tuesday), Leno's "Tonight Show" averaged 7.2 million viewers -- up 40 percent from the show's season average, and its best showing since Dec. 8, 2006. It also repped Leno's best Wednesday night viewership since Feb. 4, 2004. Leno's adult 18-49 average was a 2.2 rating, up 41% from the season average.
Letterman did nicely as well, averaging 5.5 million viewers. That's "Late Show's" best perf since Nov. 20, 2006, and up 34 percent from its season average. Letterman's 1.7 rating in the adults 18-49 demo was the show's best since May 17, 2007, and up 35% from season averages.
O'Brien pulled in 2.8 million viewers, his best since Feb. 13, 2007. That's up 36 percent from season averages. "Late Night" averaged a 1.2 rating in the adults 18-49 demo, up 42% from season averages.
Ferguson landed 2.2 million viewers, up 22 percent from season averages and the show's best numbers since May 10, 2007. "Late Late Show" averaged a 0.7 rating with adults 18-49 -- up 14% from season averages, but not a season high.
With so much attention on the Leno vs. Letterman battle, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" didn't post season highs, but it wasn't hurt, either. Show matched its season averages: 1.8 million viewers, and a 0.6 rating with adults 18-49.
-- Michael Schneider
We can reserve judgment for a time -- a week or two -- to see if the people who tuned into Leno out of habit will find his writerless show unfunny and be curious enough to switch to Letterman. And the Letterman writers really have to bring their A game.
On the other hand, if this one-time rating turns into a trend, it may be that the personality of the host weighs far more with audiences than the quality of the writing. If that's the case, it's bad news for the WGA, as their deal with Letterman won't give them any leverage whatsoever.
Posted by: Stuart Creque | January 03, 2008 at 02:24 PM