Craig Ferguson is thisclose to Conan in ratings

The gap in total viewers in late night between (number one) CBS and (number four) NBC is (perhaps inevitably) closing to just 50,000 souls watching Conan as opposed to watching Craig. That is not a one-week anamoly, that is a season-to-date number.

Note, as you reading the duelling press releases, that NBC thinks total audience is so 1994.

CRAIG TOPS CONAN ... AGAIN

"The Late Late Show" Continues Upward Trajectory -- Besting "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in Viewers and Delivering Its Highest Weekly Audience Since Feb 2007

Season-to-Date Gap Narrows to Just 50,000 Viewers

CBS's THE LATE LATE SHOW with CRAIG FERGUSON continued its late night momentum, out-delivering "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in viewers (2.13m vs. 2.07m) and tying it in households (1.6/05 vs. 1.6/06), according to Nielsen live plus same day ratings for the week ending Dec. 19. This is THE LATE LATE SHOW's best delivery in households since the week ending May 11, 2007, best viewer performance since the week ending Feb. 16, 2007.

THE LATE LATE SHOW posted a 1.6/05 in households with 2.13m viewers, up +14% in households (from 1.4/05) and +22% in viewers (from 1.75m) compared to the same week last year. THE LATE LATE SHOW was up +14% in adults 25-54 (0.8/05 from 0.7/04), +67% in adults 18-34 (0.5/03 from 0.3/02) and even in adults 18-49 (0.6/03) compared to the same week last year.

Season-to-date, THE LATE LATE SHOW is up +8% in households (1.4/05 from 1.3/05), +11% in viewers (1.90m from 1.72m), +14% in adults 25-54 (0.8/04 from 0.7/04) and even in both adults 18-49 (0.6/03) and adults 18-34 (0.4/03) compared to last year.

Season-to-date, THE LATE LATE SHOW is tied with "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" in adults 25-54 (0.8/04 vs. 0.8/05). Last year, season to date, THE LATE LATE SHOW trailed "Late Night" by -0.1 in adults 25-54. THE LATE LATE SHOW has improved its competitive position with "Late Night" in viewers (-50,000 viewers in 2008 from -120,000 viewers in 2007) and adults 18-49 (-0.1 in 2008 from -0.2 in 2007).

JAY LENO AND CONAN O'BRIEN TAKE THE WEEK OF DEC. 15-19 AMONG 18-49 VIEWERS

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - December 29, 2008 - NBC's late-night lineup has won the week of December 15-19 in adults 18-49 and other key categories, with "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" taking the 11:35 p.m. ET hour by an 11 percent margin over CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" in 18-49 viewers and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" beating CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" at 12:35 a.m. by 23 percent.

Both Jay and Conan stretched their leads among younger adults, with Jay topping Letterman for the week by a 32 percent advantage among adults 18-34 and Conan achieving a 63 percent margin over Ferguson.

Season to date, "Tonight" is delivering an 18 percent margin of victory over "Late Show" in adult 18-49 viewers and a 25 percent advantage in total viewers, while Conan's leads over "Late Late Show" are 25 percent in 18-49 and 3 percent in total viewers. Both Jay and Conan once again pull away among younger adults, with Jay leading the season by a 37 percent margin among adult 18-34 viewers and Conan winning by 60 percent.

For the week of December 15-19, Jay's average 1.854 million adults 18-49 topped the 1.667 million of Letterman; in total viewers, Jay's audience of 5.293 million persons beat Letterman's 4.584 million; and in adults 18-34, Jay's 783,000 out-delivered Letterman's 595,000. At 12:35 a.m. ET, Conan's 996,000 adults 18-49 for the week out-delivered Ferguson's 813,000; in total viewers, Conan's 2.070 million trailed Ferguson's 2.131 million; and in adults 18-34, Conan's 520,000 topped Ferguson's 320,000.

While "Late Night" trailed "Late Late Show" last week in total viewers, Conan generated bigger audiences than Ferguson in adults, men and women 18-34; adults, men and women 18-49; and adults and men 25-54.

Comments

[Michael W.]

This is noteworthy. Think it took a while for people to warm up to Ferguson because ... well ... he's different than most American-born late night hosts ... seemed like kind of strange choice originally, but hey, either someone at CBS knew what they were doing or Craig really rose to the challenge and found himself ... most likely it's a little of both.

[Gary]

This must be making NBC nervous. What will happen Conan at 11.30, as he just isn’t as dominant as Jay is. And does this make Ferguson a contender for 11.30 on CBS?

Out of interest, does Dave hang on to his audience (admittedly smaller), better than Jay over the whole hour? I think I heard that before.

[matt stechel]

see i like to think Ferguson's got a shot at that 11 3o spot when Letterman decides to call it a day...but we all know its Jon Stewert's job to lose. The question is if Ferguson will continue to be satisfied in 12 30 post Letterman.

[Janice]

I don't know if I would like Ferguson at prime time. Right now his show is mostly innuendos and double entendres which he manages to make really really funny, and it works because it's on so late. Can he step out of this format and deliver at prime time? Maybe he can because he is so versatile. He has proven that through his book that he wrote which was well received in the writing world, his improv monologues, and he's a pretty interviewer. I think trying to convince him would be a bigger challange. He does seem to get bored quickly and he loves his freedom. Prime time shows I think require a lot more commitment and come with more pressure than late late night. But hey, in prime time they at least would give him more props to work with than a feather and puppets.