If there were any lasting doubts about Jimmy Fallon‘s staying power, forget them right about now.
NBC’s “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” earned an 1.18 rating/6 share in the key advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for 2014’s third quarter, besting the combined competition of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (0.57/3) and CBS’s “Late Show” (0.44/2 ).
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“Tonight” averaged 3.927 million total viewers , also tops. “Kimmel” edged out David Letterman‘s CBS show for second place, 2.340 million total viewers to 2.330 million.
Fallon delivered the top “Tonight Show” Q3 in six years across both the key demo and total viewers.
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For the full 52-week season versus the prior year, “Tonight” scored a 1.26 rating in the demo, up 52 percent over the previous 12-month period (0.83). In total viewers, it had a 23 percent gain: 4.368 million to 3.550 million.
That rating number also topped ABC and CBS combined in the demo, with a 1.26 versus a combined 1.20 (0.67 for Kimmel and 0.53 for Letterman).
In that year-long timeframe, of course, Jay Leno said goodbye and Fallon said hello — which surely gave the show an unfair edge. Also helping ratings is the fact that Fallon has been running live five nights a week while the competition tends to stick to four, taking Fridays off.
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NBC remained dominant in the next hour as well, with Seth Meyers topping outgoing “Late Late Show” host Craig Ferguson head-to-head.
NBC’s “Late Night” averaged a 0.50/3 to CBS’s 0.28/2 in the third quarter. Meyers’ demo number actually bested Letterman’s from the prior hour.
ABC’s “Nightline,” which begins at the same time of the other two shows but runs for just half the time, averaged a 0.37/2 over the three-month time period.
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In total viewers, NBC’s “Late Night” averaged 1.511 million, besting CBS’s “Late Late Show” and its 1.221 million.
“Nightline” averaged 1.497 million total viewers in the half-hour timeslot.