NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” has won the week of March 15-19 in adults 18-49 and total viewers over all cable and broadcast competition, delivering bigger audiences than CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” and ABC’s combination of “Nightline” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in every key ratings category: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, as well as total viewers. Thursday and Friday CBS telecasts were delayed by basketball and are excluded from last week’s averages.
At 12:35 a.m. ET, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” out-delivered CBS’s encore telecasts of “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and ABC’s “Kimmel” rebroadcasts in every key ratings category.
Week to week, Jay increased his margin of victory over “Late Show” to 25 percent versus the prior week’s 15 percent in adult 18-49 viewers. In total viewers, Jay’s margin grew to 27 percent versus the prior week’s 17 percent.
For the week at 1:35 a.m. ET, “Last Call with Carson Daly” (0.4 rating in 18-49, 0.3 in 18-34) tied ABC’s “Kimmel” encores in adult 18-49 rating and beat “Kimmel” in adult 18-34 rating. “Last Call” also tied CBS’s “Late Late Show” rebroadcasts in the valuable 18-34 demo.
For the week of March 15-19, Jay’s average 1.547 million adults 18-49 outscored Letterman’s 1.235; in total viewers, Jay’s audience of 4.619 million persons beat Letterman’s 3.638 million; and in adults 18-34, Jay’s 526,000 topped Letterman’s 432,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Jimmy Fallon’s 868,000 adults 18-49 for the week topped the 621,000 of Ferguson’s encores; in total viewers, Jimmy’s 1.879 million outscored Ferguson’s 1.533 million; and in adults 18-34, Jimmy’s 353,000 out-delivered Ferguson’s 220,000.
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 15-19. Ratings reflect “live plus same day” data 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. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 1.2 rating, 5 share
CBS “Late Show,” 0.9/4*
ABC “Nightline,” 0.8/3
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.4/2 (in encore telecasts)
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 0.7/4
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.5/3 (in encore telecasts)*
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.4/3*
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 4.6 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.6 million viewers*
ABC “Nightline,” 3.3 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.4 million viewers (in encore telecasts)
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.9 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.5 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 1.1 million viewers*
* Monday’s “Last Call” was an encore. Thursday and Friday CBS telecasts were delayed by basketball and are excluded from these averages.
SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” 1.3/6
CBS “Late Show,” 1.0/4
ABC “Nightline,” 1.0/4
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/3
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 0.6/4
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.6/3
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.4/2
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” 5.0 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 4.1 million viewers
ABC “Nightline,” 3.9 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.7 million viewers
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 1.5 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.9 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.8 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF MARCH 15-19
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.7
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.6
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.9
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.5
Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.32 million viewers
TOTAL VIEWERS
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 1.5 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 1.2 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 2.0 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.2 million
(source: information from NBC)
