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[09/30/10 - 11:23 AM]
Jay Leno and Jimmy Fallon Deliver Premiere-Week Ratings Wins
NBC spins the late-night numbers for the week of September 20-24.

[via press release from NBC]

JAY LENO AND JIMMY FALLON DELIVER PREMIERE-WEEK RATINGS WINS

'TONIGHT' AND 'LATE NIGHT' ARE THE ONLY SHOWS IN THOSE TIME PERIODS ON NBC, ABC OR CBS TO AVOID AUDIENCE DECLINES VS. PREMIERE WEEK LAST YEAR IN 18-49 VIEWERS AND TOTAL VIEWERS

JAY TOPS ALL CABLE AND BROADCAST ENTERTAINMENT COMPETITION AT 11:35 P.M. IN 18-49 VIEWERS AND TOTAL VIEWERS

JIMMY FALLON DELIVERS BIGGER AUDIENCES THAN 'LATE LATE SHOW' IN ALL KEY DEMOS

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - September 30, 2010 - NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" have won the opening week of the 2010-11 television season against all cable and broadcast entertainment competition in adults 18-49, with "Tonight" and "Late Night" scoring as the only late-night series on NBC, ABC or CBS in those time periods to avoid declines in their audiences in adults 18-49 and total viewers versus last year's premiere week.

For the opening week of the 2010-11 season, Jay Leno outscored CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" and all other broadcast and cable competition in total viewers, while also delivering bigger audiences than "Late Show" in adults, men and women 18-34 and adults, men and women 18-49. Jay out-scored ABC's combination of "Nightline" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in all key ratings categories: adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, as well as total viewers. Jimmy Fallon delivered bigger audiences than CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" in all key demographics, while trailing slightly in total viewers.

For the week, "Tonight" topped "Late Show" by a 7 percent margin in adult 18-49 viewers (1.326 million vs. 1.238 million), reversing the premiere-week result of one year ago, when "Late Show" held a 28 percent advantage (1.655 million vs. 1.292 million). Note that last year's "Late Show" results were boosted by an appearance by President Obama on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009. "Late Show" results last week were aided to a lesser degree by the Wednesday appearance of Joaquin Phoenix. "Tonight" is up 3 percent versus its year-ago 18-49 delivery. In total viewers, "Tonight" led "Late Show" during premiere week, 3.795 million to 3.780 million, again reversing the result of one year ago, when "Late Show" held a 110 percent margin (5.044 million vs. 2.399 million). "Tonight" is up 58 percent versus premiere week last year in total viewers.

At 12:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night" out-delivered "Late Late Show" during premiere week by 27 percent in 18-49 viewers (828,000 vs. 653,000 million), up from a 2 percent margin for the same week last year (827,000 vs. 813,000). In total viewers, Jimmy Fallon cut the margin for "Late Late Show" from last year's 51 percent (2.106 million vs. 1.397 million) to just 0.6 percent last week (1.813 million vs. 1.803 million). Versus one year ago, "Late Night" is up slightly in 18-49 viewers (828,000 vs. 827,000) and up 29 percent in total viewers.

WEEKLY AVERAGES

(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of September 20-24. Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date and third-quarter 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," 1.0 rating, 4 share
CBS "Late Show," 0.9/4

11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.0/4

12:05-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/3

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.6/4
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.5/3

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," 3.8 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.8 million viewers

11:35 p.m.-12:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 3.6 million viewers

12:05-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Kimmel," 1.7 million viewers

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.8 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.8 million viewers

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

* Friday's "Last Call" was an encore.

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 20-24

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

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 1.31 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m. "The Daily Show," 1.7 million

Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m.-midnight ET, "The Colbert Report," 1.3 million

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 1.9 million

Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.2 million





  [september 2010]  
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