CONAN O’BRIEN TIES ‘LATE SHOW’ IN 18-49 RATING AND JIMMY FALLON MATCHES ‘LATE LATE SHOW’ FOR THE WEEK OF DEC. 21-25
CONAN AND JIMMY ALSO TIE FOR #1 FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2009 IN 18-49 RATING AND CONAN TOPS LETTERMAN FOR THE QUARTER IN 18-49 VIEWERS IN 18-49 RATING, CONAN HAS FINISHED #1 OR TIED FOR #1 AMONG THE BROADCAST COMPETITION FOR EIGHT OF THE LAST NINE WEEKS, WHILE JIMMY HAS BEEN #1 OR TIED FOR #1 FOR SIX OF SEVEN WEEKS
NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” have both tied for #1 among the broadcast networks for the week of December 21-25 in the key late-night demographic of adults 18-49. For the fourth quarter of 2009, “Tonight” has also tied for #1 in its hour with CBS’s “Late Show with David Letterman” in adult 18-49 rating and out-delivered “Late Show” in 18-49 viewers. Jimmy Fallon tied CBS’s “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” for the fourth quarter in both 18-49 rating and 18-49 viewers.
In adults 18-34, Conan led convincingly over Letterman and the ABC team of “Nightline” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for the quarter, posting a 1.0 rating in 18-34 versus “Late Show’s” 0.7, “Nightline’s” 0.7 and “Kimmel’s” 0.4. Jimmy Fallon also prevailed for the quarter in the valuable 18-34 demo, averaging a 0.6 rating to “Late Late Show’s” 0.4 and “Kimmel’s” 0.4.
For the quarter, “The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” topped Comedy Central’s 11 p.m. ET series “The Daily Show” in adult 18-49 viewers by a 35 percent margin (1.369 million adults 18-49 vs. 1.017 million) and beat Comedy Central’s 11:30 series “The Colbert Report” by 80 percent (1.369 million vs. 761,000). In total viewers, Conan topped “Daily” for the quarter by 46 percent (2.546 million vs. 1.742 million) and “Colbert” by 112 percent (2.546 million vs. 1.202 million). “Tonight” and “Late Night” also out-delivered Adult Swim and all other cable entertainment networks in their 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. hours respectively in 18-49 for the quarter.
Conan finished the quarter having ranked #1 or tied for #1 among broadcast networks in adult 18-49 rating for eight of the last nine weeks, while Jimmy has been #1 or tied for #1 in 18-49 rating for six of the last seven weeks.
The median age of Conan’s audience during the quarter was 46.6, nine years younger than Letterman’s 56.3 and “Nightline’s” 56.4. Conan’s audience was even younger than it was at 12:35 a.m. during the fourth quarter last year (47.6). At 12:35 a.m. ET in this year’s fourth quarter, the median age of Jimmy Fallon’s audience (44.4) was seven years younger than both Ferguson’s (52.2) and Kimmel’s (51.9).
For the fourth quarter of 2009, Conan’s average 1.369 million adults 18-49 topped the 1.359 of Letterman; in total viewers, Conan’s audience of 2.546 million persons finished behind Letterman’s 4.221 million; and in adults 18-34, Conan’s 654,000 topped Letterman’s 459,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Jimmy Fallon’s 801,000 adults 18-49 for the quarter tied Ferguson’s 801,000; in total viewers, Jimmy’s 1.396 million finished behind Ferguson’s 1.949 million; and in adults 18-34, Jimmy’s 410,000 out-delivered Ferguson’s 292,000.
WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of December 21-25. Ratings reflect “live plus same day” data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date and fourth-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. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 1.0 rating, 4 share*
CBS “Late Show,” 1.0/4*
ABC “Nightline,” 0.9/3*
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 0.5/2 (in encore telecast)*
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 (in encore telecasts)*
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight,” 2.5 million viewers*
CBS “Late Show,” 4.3 million viewers*
ABC “Nightline,” 3.8 million viewers*
12:05 a.m. ET
ABC “Kimmel,” 1.6 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*
12:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Late Night,” 1.4 million viewers*
CBS “Late Late Show,” 2.0 million viewers*
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.8 million viewers (in encore telecasts)*
* Thursday and Friday telecasts were preempted and/or listed as specials due to the Christmas holiday and are excluded from these averages.
FOURTH QUARTER/SEASON TO DATE
ADULTS 18-49
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 1.0/4
CBS “Late Show,” 1.0/4
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,” 0.6/3
CBS “Late Late Show,” 0.6/4
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.3/2
TOTAL VIEWERS
11:35 p.m. ET
NBC “Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien,” 2.5 million viewers
CBS “Late Show,” 4.2 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,” 1.9 million viewers
1:35 a.m. ET
NBC “Last Call,” 0.8 million viewers
SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF DECEMBER 21-25
NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING
Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET, “The Daily Show,” 0.3
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.3
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,” 0.8 million
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. ET, “The Colbert Report,” 0.7 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: data and information provided by NBC)
