NBC continues to claim major late-night dominance and big headlines when it comes to the still high-flying Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. But another network is finding something to crow about. Analyzing its one-and-a half late-night time period — 11:35 p.m. to 1:05 p.m — where it programs, ABC says it comes in first in overall viewers — averaging a Nielsen 2.399 million viewers for the hour-long Jimmy Kimmel Live and a half hour of Nightline.
With an assist from the season finale of The Voice, NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has hit a six-month ratings high — beating its Jimmy Kimmel-David Letterman competition combined in the key young adults demo.
Nearly four months since he hit the late-night ground in a big way, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon still maintains a hefty lead over the competition. The show’s season average since Feb. 17, when Fallon took over hosting the show from Jay Leno, puts him at 4.23 million 18-49 viewers — 1.5 million more than his nearest competitor CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman, which sits at 2.71 million. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live comes in at 2.64 million.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno continues to be the top late-night show for the week of the new TV season. For the week ending Sept. 27, NBC’s Tonight earned a Nielsen 0.9 rating/4 share among key 18-49 viewers (1.2 million viewers) and 3.7 million overall latenight viewers in its 11:35 p.m. timeslot.
He’s a little more than six months away from passing the Tonight Show baton — again — but Jay Leno is very much still on his game ratings-wise. In Nielsen numbers for the second quarter of this year, NBC’s Tonight Show With Jay Leno was easily the top-rated hour in latenight.
On his third day as an 11:35 p.m. late night host, Jimmy Kimmel took his biggest step yet to separate himself from the two titans of that time period, David Letterman and Jay Leno. He started pulling away, at least for one night, among the most important audience in latenight.
Exclusives
All the promotion for Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s move to 11:35 p.m. certainly paid off for ABC. Kimmel topped the competition last night in his first appearance in his new timeslot. JKL averaged a 2.8 household rating, topping both CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman and NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Letterman drew a 2.7, while Leno averaged a 2.4.
