Late Night Ratings: David Letterman Tops Conan O'Brien
Letterman's 'Late Show' tops O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' in metered market households
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/10/2009 12:13:57 PM
In a first since he took over The Tonight Show June 1, Conan O'Brien finished second to his chief competitor on CBS, David Letterman.The Late Show with David Letterman earned a 3.4/8 metered market household rating, compared to The Tonight Show's 2.9/7.
Jay Leno's Tonight Show regularly topped Letterman in the ratings, though O'Brien's audience likely skews younger than his predecessor.
While a single night (or even week) cannot be considered an accurate barometer of a show's ratings success, there were other factors that could have affected the late-night ratings.
NBC ran the NHL Stanley Cup finals, which ended at 8 p.m. on the west coast. As a result west coast stations ran local programming in primetime.
The Colbert Report, Comedy Central's 11:30 p.m. comedy program, is in Iraq this week taping a much hyped week of shows.
Likewise, the NBA playoffs on ABC ran late, and came down to the final few seconds, which also could have sapped some of O'Brien's viewers.
Of course, if Letterman keeps it up as the weeks move on, then it could signal a late-night ratings shift that hasn't been seen in years.
Variety recently reported that Letterman was in talks to stay at CBS through 2012.
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What were you thinking all you NBC biggies? Taking Jay Leno off the Tonite Show where he earned your silly butts mega dollars and kept loyal audiences. Now, we have to watch CBS at 11:35 if we want to watch a talk show, AT ALL. I personally am through, can't stand Conan (in that slot, he was okay in the Late Show spot) Whoever(s) made that decision to replace Jay should be made to see the ERROR of his or her ways!!!
Sheryl Scott
Sheryl Scott - 9/23/2009 7:20:52 AM EDT -
NBC, you lost a class act removing Jay Leno from the 11:30 pm spot. What were you thinking? Quitting while you're ahead is o.k. for an aging athlete, but Jay was just getting better and better. Under the comic brilliance and sometimes cutting humor, I always sensed the goodness of the man. I miss you Jay.
Diana Kovac - 9/9/2009 6:35:07 PM EDT -
Conan cannot seem to stop with the juvenilia. Also, he is not the polished stand-up genius that Leno was, not to mention Leno's diplomatic and respectful, as well as silly, interviewing. Conan can hardly keep himself reined in when its time for his guests to have the spotlight. Just doesn't cut it. And Max's music is sooo dam noisy. Too late for that. Not that I would want to hear it earlier.
carol lombard - 6/12/2009 10:56:26 PM EDT -
People just don't get it. Both Leno and O'brien have been coping what Letterman has been doing for years. He is 5 times funnier and original. Hopfully now people will wakeup.
Jodie Hill - 6/12/2009 3:25:42 PM EDT -
i miss leno i cant stand o'brien,soon conan will go back to 12 o'clock and jimmy will take the 11 o'clock spot
jerry paradiso - 6/12/2009 11:12:27 AM EDT
