April 23, 2024

Media Decoder Blog: On Second Night in New Slot, a Ratings Slide for Kimmel

Not that anyone should have expected Jimmy Kimmel to stage an immediate late-night ratings coup, but on his second night in a head-to-head-to-head contest with Jay Leno and David Letterman, Mr. Kimmel fell slightly in the ratings, while both other hosts added viewers.

The strength of Mr. Leno and NBC’s “Tonight” show was underscored by his margin among total viewers. On Wednesday, Mr. Leno averaged 3.55 million viewers, up from 3.27 million the night before. That put Mr. Leno in a strong first-place position among total viewers.

Mr. Letterman also experienced an upward bounce, to 3.04 million total viewers from 2.88 million.

Mr. Kimmel, meanwhile, saw his viewer total drop off to 2.86 million viewers from 3.09 million on Tuesday night — meaning he finished third in viewers on his second night.

But in the contest among the viewers who count the most among advertisers, viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, Mr. Kimmel showed more strength. He picked up significantly from his first night, averaging 1.08 million viewers in that age group, up from 887,000 on Tuesday. That total was a virtual tie with Mr. Leno, who was just 6,000 viewers ahead in the 18-49 category.

Mr. Letterman also picked up significantly in that group, growing to 998,000 viewers in that audience segment from 683,000 on Tuesday.

Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/on-second-night-in-new-slot-a-ratings-slide-for-kimmel/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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