RATINGS: THE TONIGHT SHOW Rules The March 2-6 Ratings Week In 18-49, Equals A Seven-week High

By: Mar. 11, 2020
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

RATINGS: THE TONIGHT SHOW Rules The March 2-6 Ratings Week In 18-49, Equals A Seven-week High

"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" has decisively won the late-night ratings week of March 2-6 versus the ABC and CBS competition, matching a seven-week high in the key demographic of adults 18-49, according to "live plus same day" figures from Nielsen Media Research.

"Tonight's" 0.36 rating for the week equals the prior week's rating as the show's best since Jan. 13-17 (0.37). Fallon's +0.07 margin over CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" (0.31) is "Tonight's" biggest over a week of "Late Show" originals, excluding weeks of primetime NFL boosts, since June 24-28, 2019 (+0.09, 0.41 for "Tonight," 0.32 for "Late Show").

"Tonight" also won the week over the ABC and CBS timeslot competition in adults, men and women 25-54, adults 18-34 and most other key demographics.

"Tonight's" week was led by THE MARCH 4 edition, with guests Hillary Rodham Clinton, Noah Schnapp, Jane Birkin and Iggy Pop, which averaged 2.266 million viewers, MAKING IT "Tonight's most-watched telecast since Friday, Jan. 17 (with guests Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Vanessa Hudgens and musical guest Ashley McBryde).

Last week at 12:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" ranked #1 versus CBS' "The Late Late Show with James Corden" and ABC's "Nightline" in adults 18-49, total viewers and every other key ratings category. Season to date, "Late Night" ranks #1 versus "Late Late Show" and "Nightline" in all key ratings measures.

At 1:35 a.m., "A Little Late with Lilly Singh" equaled an 11-week high in 18-49 (0.15, matching the show's best since the week of Dec. 16-20, 2019, 0.18).

Digital / Social: Total Youtube views for "The Tonight Show" were up +17% versus the show's weekly average for 2019. For the 2020 year to date, "Tonight" remains the #1 most-viewed entertainment TV program on YouTube, with 678 million Total Views, which is up +55% from the same time-frame last year (Source: ListenFirst Media Brand Rankings, LF // TV UNIVERSE // EPISODIC; Video Views; Brand Type: TV Shows, 01/01/20-03/08/20. Excludes Children's Programming).

"Tonight" also remains the #1 most-social late-night series on television in 2020, having earned 18.1 million Interactions across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (Source: Nielsen Social SCR, Program Ranker; Linear Window; Series Only; 01/01/20-03/08/20; excludes news and sports).

Monday's Coronavirus-focused "A Closer Look" from "Late Night with Seth Meyers" was the #1 most-viewed Youtube video in the late-night daypart for the week, having earned 2.5 million views (Source ListenFirst Media Content Rankings; LF // TV UNIVERSE // EPISODIC; Content Video Views [YouTube]; Late Fringe Daypart; 03/02/20-03/08/20).

"Late Night with Seth Meyers" generated 16 million Youtube views for the week, up +9% from the prior week.

Year-to-date, "Late Night" has accrued 149 million Youtube views, up +43% from the same period last year.

Netting another 180,000 Interactions for the week, "A Little Late with Lilly Singh" remains the #1 new series on Instagram in 2020, with 1.5 million Interactions and ranking above all freshmen series across all dayparts and distribution platforms (Source: ListenFirst Content Rankings, LF // TV UNIVERSE // EPISODIC; Content Responses; Instagram; Brand Type: TV Shows; Season 1; 01/01/20-03/08/20).

LATE-NIGHT WEEKLY AVERAGES
(According to viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 2-6. Ratings reflect "live plus same day" data unless otherwise noted. Season-to-date figures are averages of "live plus seven day" data except for the two most recent weeks, which are "live plus same day.")

ADULTS 18-49

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight" 0.36 rating, 3 share
CBS "Late Show," 0.29/3
ABC "Kimmel," 0.32/3 *

12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 0.22/2

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.21/2 *
CBS "Late Late Show," 0.17/2 *

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "A Little Late with Lilly Singh," 0.15/2 *

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 1.887 million viewers
CBS "Late Show," 2.658 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.777 million viewers *

12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.102 million viewers

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.108 million viewers *
CBS "The Late Late Show," 1.095 million viewers *

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "A Little Late with Lilly Singh," 0.677 million viewers *

* Friday's "Kimmel," "Late Night," "Late Late Show" and "A Little Late" were encores.

SEASON AVERAGES

ADULTS 18-49

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight" 0.40 rating, 3 share
CBS "Late Show," 0.43/4
ABC "Kimmel," 0.34/3

12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 0.21/2

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 0.24/3
CBS "The Late Late Show," 0.19/2

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "A Little Late with Lilly Singh," 0.15/2

TOTAL VIEWERS

11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Tonight," 1.988 viewers
CBS "Late Show," 3.580 million viewers
ABC "Kimmel," 1.922 million viewers

12:35-1:05 a.m. ET
ABC "Nightline," 1.129 million viewers

12:35-1:35 a.m. ET
NBC "Late Night," 1.300 million viewers
CBS "The Late Late Show," 1.248 million viewers

1:35-2:05 a.m. ET
NBC "A Little Late with Lilly Singh," 0.684 million viewers

SELECTED CABLE RESULTS, WEEK OF MARCH 2-6

NATIONAL ADULT 18-49 RATING

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m., "The Daily Show," 0.22
Comedy Central, 11:30-midnight ET, "Lights Out with David Spade," 0.12

TBS, 11-11:30 p.m., "Conan," 0.18

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.35
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.28

Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.29 million viewers.

TOTAL VIEWERS

Comedy Central, 11-11:30 p.m., "The Daily Show," 0.664 million viewers
Comedy Central, 11:30-midnight ET, "Lights Out with David Spade," 0.294 million viewers

TBS, 11-11:30 p.m., "Conan," 0.435 million viewers

Adult Swim, 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET, 0.702 million viewers
Adult Swim, 12:30-1:30 a.m. ET, 0.536 million viewers



Videos