CBS’s Dave-Jay-Oprah promo spot helped give David Letterman a Super boost in the ratings Monday.
Oh, and the revelation of the new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model didn’t hurt either.
Monday’s "Late Show" averaged a 1.5 rating/6 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to fast national Nielsen numbers. That’s up 50 percent from Dave’s usual demo number, and the best for "Late Show" since President Obama visited last September.
Letterman clearly got a boost from both the Jay spot and the buzz surrounding it. According to Nielsen, 110.4 million people saw Letterman and Jay Leno share a couch with Oprah Winfrey Sunday.
The ratings company didn’t specifically call that a record, but given how many people watched the big game — it was the most-viewed U.S. TV broadcast ever– it’s almost certainly one of the most-watched promos in TV history.
An appearance by Drew Brees also no doubt helped, as did the SI reveal. (We’ll be anxious to see the young male demos on this episode when they’re released next week.) And of course, CBS was up across the board Monday night thanks to the Super glow.
Meanwhile, there was no promo bounce for Mr. Leno. The penultimate edition of "The Jay Leno Show" averaged a 1.1/3 final national rating at 10 p.m. Monday — the same number it earned a week earlier.
