Nielson ratings: Conan had highest ratings his last night of hosting the Tonight Show. Conan O’Brien had his largest audience the last night he hosted the Tonight Show, according to Nielsen Co. rating released Thursday. Conan had a record 10.3 million people watch his final show. The highest number of viewers prior to that was June 1, 2009 when 9.2 million viewers turned out.
Jay Leno has been saying that it is all a ratings game and if you don’t get the rating then NBC won’t keep you around, and as it turns out he’s right.
For his final week on air O’Brien averaged 5.3 million viewers, and this was his best week on air since his first week when he had 6.1 million people watching.
David Letterman averaged 3.9 million viewers last week. But Letterman averages for last season were 4.2 million viewers, while O’Brien stood at 2.8 million. Jay Leno averaged 5 million when he was the host of the Tonight Show.
Thursday, during an interview with Oprah, Jay Leno brought up the ratings game again, "If you look at what the ratings were, it was already destructive to the franchise," he said of O'Brien hosting the Tonight Show.
“This was the first time in the 60-year history of 'The Tonight Show' that 'The Tonight Show' would have lost money and that's what it comes down to. It's really just a matter of dollars and cents. If the numbers had been there, they wouldn't have asked me." To read more about Jay Leno's interview with Oprah and to see a short video clip, click here.
Jay Leno will return to hosting the Tonight Show beginning March 1, and many people expect that by then much of the NBC battle will be forgotten.
The Tonight Show airs nationwide at 11:35 pm on week nights. In Utah, the family oriented state, the Tonight Show has always aired earlier at 10:35 pm. The Jay Leno show airs at 10 pm nationwide, but at 9 pm in Utah.
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Source: LA Times
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