via press release:
CONAN O’BRIEN LEADS THE WEEK OF OCT. 26-30 IN THE KEY LATE-NIGHT RACE OF ADULTS 18-49
‘TONIGHT’ TOPS THE CBS AND ABC COMPETITION IN ADULTS 18-49 AND ADULTS, MEN AND WOMEN 18-34
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – November 5, 2009 – NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” has won the week of October 26-30 in the key late-night demographic of adults 18-49 over CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” and the ABC lineup of “Nightline” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” Conan also delivered bigger audiences for the week than did the ABC or CBS competition in adults, men and women 18-34.
At 12:35 a.m. ET, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” tied for #1 in 18-49 rating and delivered bigger viewer totals than CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” or ABC’s “Kimmel” in adults, men and women 18-34.
The median age of Conan’s audience last week was 47.2, nine years younger than Letterman’s 56.2 and more than 10 years younger than “Nightline’s” 57.4. At 12:35 a.m. ET last week, the median age of Jimmy Fallon’s audience (45.5) was five years younger than Ferguson’s (51.1) and six years younger than Kimmel’s (52.0).
For the week of October 26-30, Conan’s average 1.304 million adults 18-49 topped the 1.243 of Letterman; in total viewers, Conan’s audience of 2.439 million persons finished behind Letterman’s 3.998 million; and in adults 18-34, Conan’s 607,000 topped Letterman’s 414,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Jimmy Fallon’s 762,000 adults 18-49 for the week trailed Ferguson’s 774,000; in total viewers, Jimmy’s 1.314 million finished behind Ferguson’s 1.825 million; and in adults 18-34, Jimmy’s 379,000 topped Ferguson’s 298,000.
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of October 26-30. 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,” 1.0 rating, 4 share
CBS “Late Show,” 0.9/4
ABC “Nightline,” 1.0/4
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/3*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 0.6/3
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.6/3
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/2*
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 2.4 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 4.0 million viewers
ABC “Nightline,” 4.0 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.7 million viewers*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.3 million viewers
CBS “Late Late Show,” 1.8 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.7 million viewers*
* Monday’s “Last Call” and “Kimmel” were encores.
SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 1.0/4 CBS “Late Show,” 1.1/4 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,” 0.6/4
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/3
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 2.5 million viewers CBS “Late Show,” 4.4 million viewers ABC “Nightline,” 4.0 million viewers
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.7 million viewers
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” 1.4 million viewers CBS “Late Late Show,” 2.0 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.8 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF OCTOBER 26-30
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, 0.8 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,” 1.6 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, 1.7 million Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 1.0 million
Letterman should be in jail for assaulting Conan O’brien.
Of course Dave could always plead insanity and join Zucker in the insane asylum.
So if the median age for Conan is over 47, what’s the importance of 18-49. Clearly, younger people are not choose the network alternatives. These ratings are on par with Daytime Soaps.
Advertiser think that 18-49 are the people with money. So networks charge more.
can we hear more about Razorblade Suitcase please? No wonder Jon likes letterman, he must love stale, old, non-topical material
i wouldn’t say young people aren’t watching late night talk shows because i’m 15 and i watch conan a couple times a week and i never watch letterman. however i don’t have cable or satilite tv so i don’t have much of a chose. but as a 15 year old conan is way better and jimmy kimmel is good too. not a huge fan of jimmy fallon though but i watch that every now and then
Dave is getting close to calling it a career. Hopefully, it would be great if he could get Craig Kilborne to come back and take his place. That would be the end of Conan.
Does anyone know how “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” are performing ratings-wise in comparison to the past couple of years?
Craig Kilborne was repeatedly spanked when he went head-to-head with Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Why do you imagine that would go any differently this time around? Why do you think Craiggers quit to begin with? Ferguson is way better than Kilborne ever was, and Jon Stewart has permanently erased most people’s memories of the Kilborne version. Not to mention, SportsCenter since he left has not become any less of a cultural touchstone for much of the male population . . . Basically,m Kilborne is a great setup guy. He does competent work in beginning a show, and allows someone better than him to come in and make it amazing.