NBC's JAY LENO & JIMMY FALLON Finish #1 for the Week in Key Ratings

By: Mar. 21, 2013
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"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" have finished #1 for the week of March 11-15 in every key ratings category versus their ABC and CBS time-period competition.

At 11:35 p.m. ET, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" delivered bigger audiences than CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in total viewers as well as both men and women in the 18-49, 18-34 and 25-54 demos.

For the week, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" averaged 3.4 million total viewers at 11:35 p.m., while "Late Show With David Letterman" averaged 2.9 million. "Jimmy Kimmel Live," which was in rebroadcast, averaged 2.1 million. In the 18-49 demo, "The Tonight Show" averaged 0.7, topping the 0.6 of both "Late Show" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Leno has now delivered bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Show" for the last 17 weeks in a row and topped "Kimmel" for eight of their 10 head-to-head weeks. In total viewers, Leno has out-delivered Letterman for 21 weeks in a row and all 10 weeks he and Kimmel have competed versus one another.

At 12:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" averaged 1.7 million viewers for the week, which was 300,000 more than CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." ABC's newsmagazine "Nightline" drew 1.3 million for its half-hour telecast. "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," which featured weeklong appearances from Justin Timberlake, also defeated "Late Late Show" in the 18-49 demo - 0.5 vs. 0.4 - while "Nightline" earned a 0.3.

Versus the same week last year, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" was up 33 percent in adults 18-34 (to 283,000 viewers vs. 212,000) and up 30 percent in teens 12-17 (39,000 vs. 30,000).

Friday's "Late Night" generated Fallon's biggest 18-49 audience (889,000) for any night of the week since Thanksgiving (when NBC Sports covered NFL football in primetime). Excluding nights of special primetime sports coverage, this was the biggest "Late Night" 18-49 audience in more than a year, since Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, during a week of special telecasts from Indianapolis leading up to the Super Bowl.

Fallon has now generated bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Late Show" for 22 of the last 23 weeks and prevailed in total viewers for 19 of the last 21 weeks. Versus "Nightline" in their head-to-head half-hour, Fallon has out-delivered the ABC series for 10 weeks in a row in viewers 18-49 and six of the last seven weeks in total viewers.

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 11-15. 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," 0.7 rating, 3 share
CBS "Late Show," 0.6/3
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/2 with Encore telecasts
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 0.3/2
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

TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 3.4 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 2.9 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 2.1 million viewers with Encore telecasts
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.3 million viewers
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.7 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.4 million viewers
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.9 million viewers

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
ABC "Kimmel," 0.7/3**
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 0.4/2**
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

TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 3.5 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.1 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 2.6 million viewers**
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.6 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

** Since January 8.

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF FEBRUARY 25-MARCH 1

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. ET, "The Daily Show," 0.4 with Encore telecasts
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 0.4 with Encore telecasts
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 0.5
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.0
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.7

Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.27 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS
Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. "The Daily Show," 0.9 million with Encore telecasts
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 0.7 million with Encore telecasts
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 0.9 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.2 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.5 million



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