NBC's 40th late-night victory lap

Four sweeps a year, counting July, times 10 years ... that's how long Jay Leno has been dominating the competition.

Somewhat more surprising in NBC's gloat-a-gram is this tidbit: "Last Call with Carson Daly" owns the 18-34 demographic over Kimmel and Ferguson, whose programs air earlier in the evening.   

JAY WINS HIS 40TH SWEEP IN A ROW, MARKING 10 YEARS OF LATE-NIGHT LEADERSHIP; UNDEFEATED CONAN WINS HIS 45TH STRAIGHT

'TONIGHT' LENGTHENS ITS 18-49 LEAD IN THE FEBRUARY SWEEP TO 27 PERCENT, UP FROM LAST YEAR'S 25 PERCENT; IN TOTAL VIEWERS, JAY'S LEAD STRETCHES TO 36 PERCENT FROM 24 PERCENT

CONAN RULES FEBRUARY BY A 41 PERCENT MARGIN IN 18-49 VIEWERS AND MORE THAN DOUBLES 'LATE LATE SHOW' AMONG ADULTS 18-34

IN THE VALUABLE 18-34 DEMO, CARSON DALY OUT-RATES FERGUSON AND KIMMEL

BURBANK, Calif. - March 9, 2006 -NBC's late-night lineup ruled the February sweep, delivering the 40th consecutive sweep-month win for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in adults 18-49.  The victory marks 10 straight years of sweep wins for "Tonight."  At 12:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" extended its undefeated streak to 45 sweep wins without a loss.  Note that "Tonight," "Late Night" and "Last Call" were preempted on 10 of the sweep's 20 weeknights due to Olympics coverage.

Jay Leno increased his February sweep advantage over CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" from a 25 percent margin in 18-49 viewers one year ago to 27 percent (2.666 million viewers vs. 2.097 million) in February 2006.  In total viewers, Jay stretched his lead from last year's 24 percent to 36 percent (6.436 million vs. 4.731 million).  Conan O'Brien dominated at 12:35 a.m., winning by a 41 percent margin in 18-49 (1.383 million vs. 984,000).

Conan tied Letterman in the valuable adult 18-34 category for the February sweep (1.1 rating each) and outscored Letterman for the week of Feb. 27-March 3 (1.1 vs. 1.0), despite Conan's later start time.  Head-to-head, Conan more than doubled CBS' "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" in adults 18-34 for both the sweep and the week of Feb. 27-March 3 (1.1 vs. 0.5 in both cases).

At 1:35 a.m. ET, "Last Call with Carson Daly" tied ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in adult 18-49 rating for the February sweep, which extended from Feb. 2-March 1.  In adults 18-34, "Last Call" out-rated Kimmel and CBS' Ferguson, though "Last Call" airs 90 minutes later than Kimmel and an hour later than Ferguson in much of the country.

WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to in-home viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of Feb. 27-March 3)

ADULTS 18-49

NBC "Tonight," 1.9 rating, 8 share
CBS "Late Show," 1.5/7
ABC "Nightline," 1.2/5
ABC "Kimmel," 0.8/4*

NBC "Late Night," 1.1/6*
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.8/5

NBC "Last Call," 0.7/5*

TOTAL VIEWERS

NBC "Tonight," 6.3 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 4.5 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.7 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.9 million viewers*

NBC "Late Night," 2.6 million viewers*
CBS "Late Late Show," 2.1 million viewers

NBC "Last Call," 1.6 million viewers*

* "Late Night" and "Last Call" aired encore episodes on Monday.  "Kimmel" was in rebroadcast on Thursday and Friday.  Sunday's special edition of "Kimmel" is not included in these averages.

FEBRUARY SWEEP AVERAGES

ADULTS 18-49

NBC "Tonight," 2.1/9*
CBS "Late Show," 1.6/7
ABC "Nightline," 1.3/5
ABC "Kimmel," 0.7/4

NBC "Late Night," 1.1/7*
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.8/5

NBC "Last Call," 0.7/5*

Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS

NBC "Tonight," 6.4 million viewers*
CBS "Late Show," 4.7 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.7 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.8 million viewers

NBC "Late Night," 2.5 million viewers*
CBS "Late Late Show," 2.0 million viewers

NBC "Last Call," 1.6 million viewers*

* "Tonight," "Late Night" and "Last Call" were preempted on 10 of 20 sweep weeknights by Olympics coverage.

SEASON-TO-DATE AVERAGES

ADULTS 18-49

NBC "Tonight," 2.0/8
CBS "Late Show," 1.5/6
ABC "Nightline," 1.1/5
ABC "Kimmel," 0.6/4

NBC "Late Night," 1.1/6
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.7/4

NBC "Last Call," 0.7/5

Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers

TOTAL VIEWERS

NBC "Tonight," 5.9 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 4.5 million viewers
ABC "Nightline," 3.5 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.6 million viewers

NBC "Late Night," 2.5 million viewers
CBS "Late Late Show," 1.9 million viewers

NBC "Last Call," 1.5 million viewers

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF FEB. 27-MARCH 3

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING

Comedy Central, 11 p.m., "The Daily Show," 0.6
Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m., "The Colbert Report," 0.5

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., 0.7
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m., 0.3

Each rating point equals 1.30 million viewers

Comments

[Christine NYC]

Gloat-a-gram, schmote-a-gram...as a professional spin doctor (publicist) and an avid Craig Ferguson 'Late, Late Show" fan, these numbers spell greatness for TV's Scottish prince of late night.

If you look at the hard numbers, Ferguson is quickly closing the gap on Conan after just two years on the air and following the (difficult and drab) Letterman spot. Only 600,000 viewers to convert - and the women love him! ;-) Kudos Craig!

[Mark Jeffries]

This may be too early to offer this, but--is Ferguson now in line to succeed Letterman at 11:35? And is Carson Daly in line to suceed Conan at 12:35 when Conan replaces Leno?

[Adam]

I like Conan but I normally just stick to CBS after Letterman ends. I've been watching Craig since he started a little over a year ago and prefer not to change the channel. If anyone succeeds Letterman, I hope it's Craig. He's fresh, funny, entertaining and has quickly become a breath of fresh air in latenight!

[MCO]

As a Master Control Operator of two television stations (an NBC affiliate, and a CBS Affiliate) during the late night hours, I am happy to see that Conan and Leno bet CBS's late night.

I'm sorry, but I can't stand Ferguson's show, and Letterman. Letterman is just getting to boring, and his band director is extremely ignoring.

When I work on the CBS side (the other MCO and I switch sides every day, to break up the routine) I always put NBC's late night on one of my monitors so I can listen to it, while I monitor my stuff.

Keep up the good work NBC, now let's see if you can bring up your daytime ratings!

[Tricia Smith, Hanover PA]

Craig Ferguson has blasted some hilarious fresh air into the late night lineup! He's only been hosting The Late Late Show for a little over a year and he's doing a fantastic job! His monologues are brilliant, since he doesn't do jokes per se...he's just Craig and funny as hell without having to contrive his humour. When all is said and done, Craig Ferguson will eventually be KING of late night! Just wait and see!

[JG]

Craig Ferguson's program is horrible. Quit deluding yourselves.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is the best late night talk show. And I also believe that he will become the King of late night talk shows.