NBC‘s late-night lineup has dominated the week of March 9-13 over all cable and broadcast competition, with “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” delivering its biggest adult 18-49 audience in nearly 13 months and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” continuing to rule the competition at 12:35 a.m. ET, winning last week over CBS‘s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in all key ratings categories.
Nielsen has released national results for the March 9-13 week the same day it issued metered-market overnight ratings for last night’s historic telecast of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” which featured an appearance by President Barack Obama. That March 19 telecast generated Jay’s highest metered-market rating in four years and matched his highest in nearly 11 years (see separate release).
During the week of March 9-13, the second week of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” won the 12:35 a.m. ET hour over “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on five of five nights in 18-49 and total viewers. For the week, Jimmy Fallon out-delivered Ferguson and Kimmel in every key ratings category: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers. Last week’s Jimmy Fallon results are up by 8 percent in 18-49 and 6 percent in total viewers versus NBC’s “live plus same day” “Late Night” averages for the season prior to Fallon’s debut on March 2.
In the younger half of the target 18-49 demo, adults 18-34, Fallon more than doubled Ferguson (493,000 vs. 244,000), topped Kimmel’s 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET average (265,000) by an 86 percent margin and also out-delivered CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” (462,000), despite starting an hour later than Letterman.
Jay Leno delivered big numbers as well last week, with an adult 18-49 audience of 2.015 million persons. This is Jay’s biggest 18-49 viewership since the week of February 18-22, 2008 (2.050 million). In total viewers, Jay’s 5.4 million is his highest average since the week of December 22-26, 2008 (5.7 million). Jay leads Letterman for the week and the season in every key ratings category: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.
Season-to date, Jay is stretching his leads over Letterman this season vs. last, establishing a 25 percent margin over Letterman in adults 18-49, up from a 23 percent margin at this point last season, and a 30 percent advantage in total viewers, up from last year’s 25 percent.
For the week of March 9-13, Jay’s average 2.015 million adults 18-49 topped the 1.346 million of Letterman; in total viewers, Jay’s audience of 5.390 million persons beat Letterman’s 3.747 million; and in adults 18-34, Jay’s 814,000 out-scored Letterman’s 462,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Fallon’s 1.073 million adults 18-49 for the week out-delivered Ferguson’s 707,000; in total viewers, Fallon’s 2.083 million beat Ferguson’s 1.756 million; and in adults 18-34, Fallon’s 493,000 topped Ferguson’s 244,000.
At 1:35 a.m. ET for the week, “Last Call with Carson Daly” tied Kimmel and Ferguson in adult 18-49 rating (with a 0.5 rating each) and adult 18-34 rating (0.4 each).
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 9-13. 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,” 1.5 rating, 6 share
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,” 0.8/5
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.5/3
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.5/3*
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 5.4 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.7 million viewers
ABC “Nightline,” 3.6 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.6 million viewers*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 2.1 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.8 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 1.2 million viewers*
*Monday’s “Last Call” and “Kimmel” were encores.
SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 1.4/6
CBS “Late Show,” 1.1/4
ABC “Nightline,” 1.1/4
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.6/3
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 0.9/5
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.6/3
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.5/3
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 5.1 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.9 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,” 2.2 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.9 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 1.2 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF MARCH 9-13
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.9
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.7
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.8
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.4
Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.32 million viewers
TOTAL VIEWERS
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 2.1 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 1.5 million
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.6 million
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.9 million
