NBC's JAY LENO, JIMMY FALLON Deliver #1 Finishes for Fourth Quarter of 2012

"The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" have delivered #1 finishes for the fourth quarter of 2012 versus the ABC and CBS time-period competition in viewers 18-49 and total viewers. Additionally, "Tonight" and "Late Night" generated bigger audiences than CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" respectively in all key ratings measures: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.

For the fourth quarter of 2012, "Tonight" stretched its leads versus one year ago over "Late Show" in viewers 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, while Jimmy Fallon increased his advantages over "Late Late Show" in viewers 18-49 and 18-34.

In viewers 18-49, "Tonight" established a margin over "Late Show" of 14 percent (1.048 million vs. 923,000), eliminating last year's "Late Show" advantage of 1 percent. Jay also generated a 25-54 advantage for the fourth quarter of 10 percent (1.333 million vs. 1.215 million) after trailing by 0.2 percent during the year-ago quarter, and stretched his 18-34 lead to 18 percent (347,000 vs. 293,000), up from last year's 15 percent. Jay's total-viewer margin for the quarter was 13 percent (3.522 million vs. 3.109 million), equaling his advantage for the fourth quarter of 2012.

Jimmy Fallon generated an 18 percent lead over "Late Late Show" for the fourth quarter in viewers 18-49 (673,000 vs. 570,000), up from 13 percent at this point last season, and prevailed in viewers 18-34 by 45 percent (288,000 vs. 198,000), up from the year-ago 44 percent. In viewers 25-54, Jimmy matched his year-ago 8 percent margin (789,000 vs. 730,000 for the fourth quarter of 2012).

The quarter ended with the week of December 24-28, during which Jay out-delivered "Late Show" and ABC's combination in The Hour of "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in all key ratings categories. Note it was a holiday week of mostly encore telecasts with most Monday and Tuesday programming either preempted or excluded from weekly averages.

"Tonight" delivered a bigger 18-49 audience than "Late Show" for the ninth time in the last ten weeks, while Jimmy Fallon has attracted a bigger 18-49 audience than "Late Late Show" for 12 weeks in a row.

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of December 24-28. Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data from Nielsen Media Research unless otherwise noted. Fourth quarter and 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 (in encore telecasts)*

CBS "Late Show," 0.7/3 (in encore telecasts)*

11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET

ABC "Nightline," 0.7/3*

12 midnight-1 a.m. ET

ABC "Kimmel," 0.5/2 (in encore telecasts)*

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC "Late Night," 0.5/2 (in encore telecasts)*

CBS "Late Late Show," 0.4/2 (in encore telecasts)*

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC "Last Call," 0.3/2 (in encore telecasts)*

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET

NBC "Tonight," 3.3 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*

CBS "Late Show," 3.1 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*

11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET

ABC "Nightline," 3.6 million viewers*

12 midnight-1 a.m. ET

ABC "Kimmel," 1.7 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC "Late Night," 1.5 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*

CBS "Late Late Show," 1.5 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET

NBC "Last Call," 0.8 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*

* Monday and Tuesday telecasts were either preempted or excluded due to the Christmas holiday.

FOURTH QUARTER 2012/ 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

11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET

ABC "Nightline," 0.9/3

12 midnight-1 a.m. ET

ABC "Kimmel," 0.5/2

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET

NBC "Late Night," 0.5/3

CBS "Late Late Show," 0.5/3

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

11:35 p.m.-12 midnight ET

ABC "Nightline," 3.9 million viewers

12 midnight-1 a.m. ET

ABC "Kimmel," 1.9 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

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF DECEMBER 24-28

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. ET, "The Daily Show," preempted

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," preempted

TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 0.5 (in encore telecasts)**

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," preempted

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," preempted

TBS, 11 p.m.-midnight, "Conan," 1.0 million (in encore telecasts)**

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.2 million

Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.4 million

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