NBC Late Night Continues to Dominate Timeslots

NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" have dominated the broadcast competition for the late-night ratings week of Oct. 21-25.

The two programs outscored the ABC and CBS competition in their respective time periods in every key ratings category - adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers. Note that CBS's lineup was in rebroadcast and Friday's "Kimmel" was an encore.

"Late Night" generated a 10-month high in viewers 18-49 with 770,000 persons, highest since the show averaged 776,000 during the week of Dec. 17-21, 2012 (the week of "The Voice" finale). "Last Call with Carson Daly" delivered a 13-month high in viewers 18-49 with 477,000 - best since averaging 537,000 during the week of Sept. 3-7, 2012.

Season to date, Leno is off to his biggest start five weeks into a new TV season in three years in 18-49 viewers and total viewers. Fallon is at a four-year high in 18-49 and has generated his biggest overall audience five weeks into a new season in the five years he's been hosting "Late Night."

Versus the first five weeks of the year-ago season, Leno is up 13% in 18-49 viewers (with 1.111 million vs. 981,000) and up 9% in total viewers (3.628 million vs. 3.334 million). Fallon is up 25% in 18-49 viewers (791,000 vs. 632,000) so far this season and up 16% in total viewers (1.861 million vs. 1.598 million).

At 1:35 a.m. ET, "Last Call with Carson Daly" is also delivering sizable gains Versus the first five weeks of last season, up 21% in 18-49 viewers (434,000 vs. 359,000) and up 11% in total viewers (951,000 vs. 857,000).

"Tonight" has now delivered bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Show" for the last 49 weeks in a row and topped "Kimmel" for 38 of their 42 head-to-head weeks. In total viewers, Leno has out-delivered "Late Show" for 53 weeks in a row and "Kimmel" for 42 of 42 weeks.

Fallon has now generated bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Late Show" for 54 of the last 55 weeks and prevailed in total viewers for 51 of the last 53 weeks. Versus "Nightline" in their head-to-head half-hour, Fallon has out-delivered the ABC series for 42 of 42 weeks in viewers 18-49 and 37 of 39 weeks in total viewers.

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of Oct. 21-25. 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," 0.5/2 *
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/3 *

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

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.6/4
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.3/2 *

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.4/3 *

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 3.7 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 2.6 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," 1.8 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.4 million viewers *

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 1.0 million viewers *

* "Late Show" and "Late Late Show" were in rebroadcast last week and Friday's "Last Call" and "Kimmel" were encores.

SEASON TO DATE

ADULTS 18-49

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 0.9 rating, 4 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," 0.6/4
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.4/2

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.3/3

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 3.6 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.0 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," 1.9 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.5 million viewers

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 1.0 million viewers

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF OCT. 21-OCT. 25

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. ET, "The Daily Show," 0.6
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 0.5

Comedy Central, midnight-12:30 a.m. ET, "@Midnight." 0.3

TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight ET, "Conan," 0.3

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. ET, "The Daily Show," 1.6 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 1.2 million

Comedy Central, midnight-12:30 a.m. ET, "@Midnight," 0.6 million

TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight ET, "Conan," 0.7 million

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.0 million viewers
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.4 million viewers

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