JAY LENO, JIMMY FALLON Deliver No. 1 Finishes for February Sweep

NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" has finished #1 for the February sweep versus CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in viewers 18-49, total viewers and other key measures, with "Tonight" increasing its 18-49 margin over "Late Show" versus both the year-ago February sweep and the most recent sweep month of November 2012.

At 12:35 a.m. ET, NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" also took the sweep over CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" and ABC's "Nightline" and also stretched its margins over "Late Late Show" versus both the year-ago sweep and the November 2012 sweep. Jimmy delivered bigger audiences than ABC's "Nightline" in their common half-hour in every key ratings category: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.

In "live plus same day" results for the 28-night sweep from Nielsen Media Research, "Tonight" averaged a 0.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.5 million viewers overall and "Late Night" earned a 0.5 in 18-49 and 1.7 million viewers overall.

For the February sweep, "Tonight" beat "Late Show" by an 8 percent margin in viewers 18-49 (with 1.003 million adults 18-49 vs. 929,000, "live plus same day"), up from a 2 percent margin for Jay in February 2012 and up from a 6 percent advantage in November 2012. For the month, "Tonight" also out-delivered ABC's "Kimmel" by a 12 percent margin (1.003 million adults 18-49 vs. 898,000). In total viewers, Jay averaged 3.510 million viewers to top Dave (3.292 million) by a 7 percent advantage and Jimmy Kimmel (2.531 million) by a 39 percent margin.

At 12:35 a.m. ET for the sweep, "Late Night" outscored "Late Late Show" by an 18 percent margin in viewers 18-49 (with 646,000 adults 18-49 vs. 546,000), up from a 13 percent edge in February 2012 and up from a 14 percent margin in November 2012. In total viewers, Jimmy averaged 1.663 million viewers to top "Late Late Show" (1.577 million) by a 5 percent advantage.

In the adult 18-34 category, "Tonight" doubled its edge over "Late Show" to 10 percent (319,000 adults 18-34 vs. 290.000) versus the year-ago 5 percent, and "Late Night" increased its lead over "Late Late Show" to 47 percent (280,000 vs. 190,000), up from 22 percent for February 2012.

The February sweep concluded during the week of February 25-March 1, with "Tonight" and "Late Night" once again winning their time periods over ABC and CBS in viewers 18-49, total viewers and most other key categories.

Jay has now delivered bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Show" for the last 15 weeks in a row and topped "Kimmel" for seven of their eight head-to-head weeks. In total viewers, Jay has out-delivered "Late Show" for 19 weeks in a row and "Kimmel" for eight of eight weeks.

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

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of February 25-March 1. 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," 0.8 rating, 3 share
CBS "Late Show," 0.6/3*
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," 0.4/3*
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.4/2
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.2/2

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," 2.5 million viewers
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.5 million viewers
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.5 million viewers*
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.5 million viewers
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.8 million viewers

* Friday's "Late Night" and the Thursday and Friday "Late Show" were encores.

FEBRUARY SWEEP

ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 0.8 rating
CBS "Late Show," 0.7
ABC "Kimmel," 0.7
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 0.4
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.5
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.4
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.3

TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 3.5 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.3 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 2.5 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," 1.6 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," 0.8/3**
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," 3.6 million viewers

CBS "Late Show," 3.1 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 2.7 million viewers**
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.7 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," 0.8
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 0.6
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 0.4
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," 1.7 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 1.4 million
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 0.8 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.0 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.3 million

To post a comment, you must register and login.