NBC's JAY LENO Delivers Dominant Win in Late Night Ratings

NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" has delivered dominant victories versus CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" for the week of April 29-May 3, generating bigger audiences than both rival shows in all key ratings categories -- adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.

Jay generated his second-biggest weeklong 18-49 audience in three months (1.039 million adults 18-49, biggest since April 8-12 and second-biggest since January 28-February 1). Note that "Kimmel" was an Encore or Friday.

The "Tonight" margin of victory over "Late Show" is 36 percent in 18-49 viewers (1.039 million vs. 766,000), Jay's biggest advantage in the 19 weeks since December 17-21, the week of the "Voice" finale. Versus "Kimmel," "Tonight" prevailed by 27 percent in viewers 18-49 (1.039 million vs. 820,000), Jay's biggest margin in three weeks.

At 12:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" attracted bigger audiences than CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" and ABC's "Nightline" in 18-49 and total viewers, while beating "Late Late Show" in all key categories. "Late Night" topped "Late Late Show" in viewers 18-49 by a 22 percent margin (596,000 vs. 488,000) and head-to-head versus "Nightline" from 12:30-1 a.m. ET, Jimmy generated a 26 percent advantage (645,000 vs. 512,000).

Jay has now accumulated bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Show" for the last 24 weeks in a row and topped "Kimmel" for 15 of their 17 head-to-head weeks. In total viewers, Jay has out-delivered "Late Show" for 28 weeks in a row and "Kimmel" for 17 of 17 weeks.

Jimmy Fallon has now generated bigger 18-49 audiences than "Late Late Show" for 29 of the last 30 weeks and prevailed in total viewers for 26 of the last 28 weeks. Versus "Nightline" in their head-to-head half-hour, Jimmy has out-delivered the ABC series for 17 weeks in a row in viewers 18-49 and 12 of the last 14 weeks in total viewers.

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 29-May 3. 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," 0.6/3*
12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 0.4/2
12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.5/3
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," 2.8 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," 1.6 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.4 million viewers
1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "Last Call," 0.9 million viewers*

* 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," 0.8 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 APRIL 29-MAY 3

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. ET, "The Daily Show," 0.7
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," 1.6 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 1.3 million
TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 0.8 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.9 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.3 million

Don't Miss a TV News Story Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...