NBC spins the numbers in the Conan vs. Dave Late Night battle.
via press release:
CONAN WINS WEEK FOUR IN EVERY KEY RATINGS DEMO AS WELL AS IN TOTAL VIEWERS
‘THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O’BRIEN’ DOMINATES ITS FOURTH WEEK OVER ‘LATE SHOW’ IN EVERY IMPORTANT DEMO – ADULTS, MEN AND WOMEN 18-34, 18-49 AND 25-54
CONAN TOPS ‘LATE SHOW’ ON EACH OF THE FIVE NIGHTS OF THE WEEK IN ALL THE KEY ADULT DEMOS ? ADULTS 18-34, ADULTS 18-49 AND ADULTS 25-54
CONAN HAS INCREASED ‘TONIGHT’S’ DEMO DOMINANCE, WINNING THE WEEK BY A 77 PERCENT MARGIN OVER ‘LATE SHOW,’ UP FROM A 67 PERCENT MARGIN LAST WEEK AND A 34 PERCENT LEAD EARLIER THIS SEASON
CONAN DELIVERS DECISIVE DEMO MARGINS OVER ALL BROADCAST AND CABLE COMPETITION FOR THE WEEK
CONAN’S AUDIENCE IS MORE THAN 10 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ‘LATE SHOW’S,’ AND CONAN IS EVEN YOUNGER THAN HE WAS ON ‘LATE NIGHT’ FOR THE SAME WEEK LAST YEAR
JIMMY FALLON WINS AT 12:35 A.M. BY A 74 PERCENT MARGIN, UP FROM 28 PERCENT FOR THE SAME WEEK LAST YEAR; IN MEDIAN AGE, JIMMY IS NINE YEARS YOUNGER THAN ‘LATE LATE SHOW’
CARSON DALY TIES FERGUSON AND KIMMEL IN 18-49 AND 18-34 RATING
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. ? July 2, 2009 – “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” has dominated key late-night ratings for the week of June 22-26, out-delivering CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” in every important demographic – adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ? while also prevailing in total viewers. Also of note, “Tonight” beat CBS’s “Late Show” in all key adult demographics ? adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ? on all of the five nights of the week. Conan has won 20 of 20 nights to date over “Late Show” in adults 18-49 and virtually every other important demographic.
Conan’s “Tonight” dominated the week in every key demographic, stretching his leads versus the same week last year and compared with the “Tonight” season-to-date average. Conan won the week by a 77 percent margin in adult 18-49 viewers (1.851 million adults 18-49 vs. 1.047 million for “Late Show”), up from a 67 percent margin the previous week, a 10 percent margin during the same week last year (when “Tonight” was in rebroadcast) and up from a 34 percent “Tonight” margin for the season through the end of May.
In 18-49 rating, the “Tonight” advantage over “Late Show” this week was 75 percent (1.4 for “Tonight” vs. 0.8 for “Late Show”), “Tonight’s” widest margin over Letterman in this demo rating since Conan’s premiere week.
In the younger half of the key 18-49 demographic, adults 18-34, Conan won the week by a towering 180 percent margin (895,000 adults 18-34 vs. “Late Show’s” 320,000), up from a 164 percent margin the previous week and a 50 percent margin for “Tonight” this season through the end of May.
Among adult 25-54 viewers, Conan topped CBS’s “Late Show” by a 51 percent margin (1.967 million for “Tonight” vs. 1.299 million for “Late Show”) and among total viewers, Conan topped Letterman by seven percent (3.691 million vs. 3.464 million).
Conan also defeated all other broadcast and cable competition in the time period last week, delivering double- or triple-digit leads over the top cable networks in the time period among key demos: by 75 percent in adult 18-49 rating (1.4 vs. 0.8 for Adult Swim), 17 percent in adult 18-34 rating (1.4 vs. 1.2 for Adult Swim) and 100 percent in adult 25-54 rating (1.4 vs. 0.7 for USA). Conan’s 1.4 rating in adults 18-49 also decisively outscored Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” (0.8) and “Colbert Report” (0.5).
NBC’s late-night demographic surge extends to 12:35 a.m. ET, where “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” out-delivered CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” in 18-49 viewers by a 74 percent margin last week (975,000 adults 18-49 vs. 559,000 for “Late Late Show”), up from a 60 percent margin the previous week, a 28 percent margin for the same week last year and up from Jimmy’s 46 percent margin through the end of May. In total viewers, Jimmy’s 1.769 million beat Ferguson’s 1.576 million; and in adults 18-34, Jimmy’s 505,000 topped Ferguson’s 217,000. Jimmy Fallon’s 505,000 adults 18-34 also beat Letterman (320,000), despite Jimmy’s later start time.
The median age of Conan’s audience last week was 47.3, more than 10 years younger than Letterman’s 57.5. Conan is also younger than he was a year ago on “Late Night,” where the median age of his audience for this same week one year ago was 47.5.
At 12:35 a.m. ET, the median age of Jimmy Fallon’s audience was 44.6, more than nine years younger than the 54.2 for “Late Late Show.” ABC’s “Nightline” (55.9) and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (54.1) are also significantly older than “Tonight” and “Late Night.”
At 1:35 a.m. ET, “Last Call with Carson Daly” tied the adult 18-49 ratings of “Late Late Show” and “Kimmel” (0.4 rating). “Last Call” also tied “Late Late Show” and “Kimmel” in adult 18-34 rating (0.3).
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of June 22-26. 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,” 1.4 rating, 6 share
CBS “Late Show,” 0.8/3
ABC “Nightline,” 1.0/4
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.4/2*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 0.7/4
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.4/2
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.4/3*
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 3.7 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.5 million viewers
ABC “Nightline,” 3.9 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.4 million viewers*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.8 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.6 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.9 million viewers*
* Monday’s “Last Call” and “Kimmel” telecasts were encores.
SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 1.8/7
CBS “Late Show,” 1.0/4
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,” 0.8/5
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 Show with Conan O’Brien,” 4.4 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 3.8 million viewers
ABC “Nightline,” 3.8 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.7 million viewers
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 2.1 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.9 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 1.1 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF JUNE 22-26
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.8
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.6
Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.8
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,” 1.8 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 1.3 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
Conan seems to have rebounded nicely from last week’s hard loss to Dave. Nightline may have won the most viewers for the week, but last week was insane with all the celebrity deaths. Conan is still doing really well in the demos too.
So, don’t count Conan out yet. There’s going to be more back and forth in the foreseeable future.
I find it interesting that Nightline not only beat Dave last week in the 18-49 demos, but also has a higher season average as well. I just thought that as a news program airing in late night, Nightline would have a lower 18-49 demo.
If Letterman doesn’t rebound next week (this week is reruns), I don’t think he’ll catch up to Conan until he announces his retirement. If nothing else, he’s losing by less than he was against Leno.
Meanwhile Conan is getting ridiculous 18-49 ratings for the summer time. Leno was getting a something like a 1.2 or 1.1 during the Summer, and a 1.3 during the rest of the year. Plus if he’s beating Letterman in total viewers now, that means the older crowd is starting to respond better to him. If the trend continues into next week, he should be in great condition.
Nightline’s just sorry that major celebrity deaths don’t happen more often. This also serves to show that Nightline is the worst lead-in for a late night talk show ever. Nightline averages about half-a-million viewers more this week, and Kimmel doesn’t see even a slight boost. They draw way different audiences. Kimmel’s gotta hope for Leno to pull really good ratings at 10 so ABC will move Nightline to the timeslot and give him the 11:35 slot.
Late night wars are fun when Leno’s not around.
Kimmel is doing that bad for a reason. He comes off really condescending and just a really big jerk. He was making Michael Jackson jokes the night the man died! Its just not right, if you can’t say something respectful and appropiate after a legendary star dies, then just don’t bring it up.
Julian,
Yeah, I found it interesting that Kimmel did that, when Dave and Conan just kind of side-stepped mentioning Michael Jackson and Farrah in their monologues. I think Conan had brought it up later on when interviewing Snoop Dogg. But I think that the tone of the nation was that they didn’t want people making fun of Michael Jackson so soon. I think Kimmel is a talented guy and he just needs to find his way a bit more.
TSA,
I agree that Nightline is a terrible lead-in for Kimmel. He should have seen some kind of boost last week. I don’t think it’s wise that they have Kimmel straddling the 11:30 and 12:30 timeslot, so he’s essentially up against Dave, Conan, Craig and Fallon.
Also, it will be interesting to see how Conan does in the 18-49 when Fall rolls around.
I also find it interesting that if the headline is “Dave beats Conan in overall viewers for the week,” the post is filled with Conan bashers. But when it’s good news for Conan, hardly anyone says a word.
These are pretty good numbers for Conan. Just to put this into perspective compared to what Leno did one year ago:
Week Ending June 29, 2008:
3.9 Total viewers (millions), 1.1 Adults 18-49
Week Ending July 6, 2008:
2.9 Total viewers (millions), 0.8 Adults 18-49 [late-night Wimbledon coverage]
Week Ending July 13, 2008:
4.6 Total viewers (millions), 1.2 Adults 18-49
Numbers from medialifemagazine.com
Craig Ferguson is the only good late night talk show host, screw everyone else.
YAY! Conan would’ve won easily if there weren’t those deaths. He should start to win again next week.
Letterman didn’t sidestep making Michael Jackson jokes, he taped his last episode for the week before the news was announced. He was either doing or done with his Thursday night show by the time it had become official, and his Friday night shows are always pre-taped. Knowing Letterman’s irreverence towards celebrities, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would have made a joke if he could have. And on a personal note, I don’t see anything wrong with making jokes as long as they’re not mean-spirited, and Jimmy Kimmel is never mean spirited.
Yeah, at 12:05, Kimmel’s kind of dead in the water. By this time, the late-night talk show crowd has already started watching Letterman or Conan, and not many people are going to switch to him half-way through their shows. Then those shows lead into more late night talk shows, so there’s no chance of people switching to him once the 11:35 guys are done.
I’d be interested in how Craig Ferguson would fare at 11:35, with a higher budget and everything else that comes with the time slot. Conan used to smash Kilborn at 12:30, then Ferguson came in and, after a couple years, starting matching Conan’s numbers (even beating him occasionally). So it makes you wonder, if Letterman retired early and they pulled Ferguson up to his time slot, could he take Conan on? Unfortunately, we’ll probably never know the answer. Ferguson admitted publicly that he thinks Jon Stewart should get Letterman’s job when he retires, so CBS (knowing that Ferguson is happy where he is) will probably give Stewart the job instead. Still, that’s an interesting ratings war too.
Craig’s Jon Stewart comment was made years ago. Since then, he’s said it would be nice to be asked if he wanted the Letterman’s job, that is, to have the right of first refusal. Stewart is fine where he is and I think he would be a polarizing influence should he take over for Letterman. Half of the potential audience already hates Stewart. Everyone loves Craig.
Conan first 1-2 weeks was not too good , but now he’s day by day , better and better.
Letterman was helped earlier by some publicity stunts. With Howard Stern’s episode getting a ton of publicity, the Sarah Palin crap, etc. etc.
Even so, Conan has constantly kicked the crap out of Letterman where it matters in the key demos. This is no surprise.
Comparing “Nightline” to Dave and Conan is a moot point because it is ONLY a THIRTY minute show. I really dig NBC’s spin. How can Conan have 4.7 million viewers when Dave has been beating him in total viewers and both shows are considerably down from last year.
Strussman,
Where did it say Conan has 4.7 million viewers ? His weekly viewer average for the season is 4.4 million, but that’s an average of every week he’s been on the show… including his premiere week.
Dave actually lost to Conan the night Howard Stern was on. Stern’s apparently not as big of a guest as he once was.
Craig’s Jon Stewart comment was said at the same time that he mentioned he’d like to be offered the job first so he could have the chance to refuse. “Everybody loves Craig” is a pretty bold statement that’s not really backed up by the numbers, not to mention that I’m the only person I know personally who can stand him, let alone likes him. A lot of people complain about his accent, of all things. Plus, if that half of the potential audience you’re talking about is the right-wing half, conservatives actually don’t hate Jon Stewart. He actually consistently makes the Harris Polls’ Top 10 TV personalities list every year, and I personally know a lot of conservatives who love him. Plus I imagine that if he took over The Late Show, it’d be a little more like his MTV show than his current show.
By the way, I’d like to point out one last time that, while they are called “key” demographics for a reason, total viewers DOES still count. In Johnny Carson’s final years, he was losing a lot of his numbers in the key demos to Arsenio Hall, but was still killing in total viewers, which is why NBC let him continue on until he wanted to retire even though Leno wanted the job, and pulled in better demo numbers when he guest hosted (in fact Dave wanted the job too, but some people at NBC felt he was TOO “hip”, and might lose the older audience).
Complaints about Ferguson’s accent? Seriously?
English is not even my native language but I understand him very well. Well, their loss then.
I heart Ferguson’s accent. When I studied abroad, I often had trouble understanding some Scottish accents, but Ferguson’s poses no problem to me. I love that he and Conan are not up against each other anymore so I can watch both. I really tried to give Fallon the benefit of the doubt, but he’s god awful. Maybe I’ll give him another shot in a few months to see if he’s improved. They should have given Late Night to like Seth Meyers or something.
{quoteI’m the only person I know personally who can stand him, let alone likes him.[/quote]
Uh oh. There’s ONE person out there who doesn’t like Ferguson? Better get Dennis Miller to replace Letterman.
i don’t think stewart would translate too well on a network gig, he’s made for cable. you really think right wingers could find him appealing? no way