CBS Television Distribution's new late-night talker, The Arsenio Hall Show, fell off 21% in day two, dropping to a 1.5 rating/3 share in the household metered markets, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That was still good enough, however, to beat all late-night shows in the key adult demographic of adults 25-54 at a 0.8/3, with the exception of NBC's The Tonight Showwith Jay Leno. Arsenio also tied ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live with that number. Among adults 25-54, Arsenio was up 33% compared to both year-ago and lead-in.
Syndication observers on Wednesday said Arsenio's second-day number still would have been a huge win for CBS and Tribune, Arsenio's launch group and production partner, even without the bonus of the big first day.
A fall-off is expected after a big premiere; now the question is at what point Arsenio's ratings levels off. Moreover, the national ratings don't come back for two weeks, so how the show is doing on a national basis remains unknown. That said, Arsenio doesn't air double-runs, so its first-week national number should be relatively close to its metered-market number, and that's a good sign.
In the meantime, Warner Bros.' Bethenny slipped to a 1.1/3 two-day average, down 8% from its year-ago time period average and down 13% from its lead-ins.
Among daytime's key demographic of women 25-54, Bethenny scored a 0.6/5 on Tuesday, even with both its year-ago time periods and lead-ins.
CTD's The Test held steady on day two at a 0.7/2, down 22% from its lead-in and even with year-ago.
Syndication ratings for Wednesday, Sept. 11, will be skewed due to heavy preemptions as a result of 9/11 remembrance coverage.
