Leno's "Tonight" Show Ratings Dip Below Conan's
Jay Leno's "Tonight" show ratings aren't giving NBC anything to laugh at. The summer ratings for the late-night host's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" brought in the lowest ratings for "Tonight" on record for the long-running program, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Leno is also pulling in a smaller number in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic than his short-lived predecessor, Conan O'Brien, did last year.
According to the report, since the end of the broadcast season, Leno is averaging 3.8 million viewers and a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating. That's a 12 percent improvement in total audience compared with O'Brien's "Tonight" show, but it's 23 percent off in that targeted demographic and down in both measurements compared with Leno's hosting gig two years ago.
THR notes that despite the ratings downgrade, Leno is still beating his late-night counterpart, CBS' "Late Show" with David Letterman," by 22 percent in both metrics.
Leno regained the "Tonight" show spot after his primetime program "The Jay Leno Show" fared poorly in the ratings. O'Brien left "Tonight" in January rather than begin the show a half hour later than the standard 11:35 p.m. time slot to accommodate Leno's return to late night.
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