RSS
Home
'Nightline' pounds 'The Tonight Show' in ratings
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
It wasn’t so long ago when there was talk that ABC’s nightly news program "Nightline" would be canceled. ABC actually considered replacing the program with a late night talk show. Since 1980 "Nightline" has been a staple in late night television. In 2005 the show’s longtime anchor Ted Koppel stepped down. The show was revamped and is now anchored by 3 people, Cynthia McFadden, Terry Moran and Martin Bashir.
The new and improved "Nightline" seems to be cleaning the floor with NBC’s "Tonight Show". Since Conan O’Brien took the reins viewership has slowly eroded. O’Brien maintained a lead in late night until recently. Capitalizing on the sex scandal that he is involved in, David Letterman and “The Late Show” managed to take the lead for the first time since 2005.
On Friday ABC announced for the week ending October 18, 2009 "Nightline" had a significant lead over "The Tonight Show" in total viewers. According to ABC, "Nightline" pulled in 3,920,000 viewers. That is 1,420,000 more than Conan O’Brien has been able to muster. October has been a ratings bonanza for David Letterman, his show brought in 4,200,000 viewers giving him a win in the late night ratings war for now.
How long will Letterman stay on top? That’s anyone’s guess, but the longer his sex scandal is reported on the better his chances at staying at the top. Don’t count Conan O’Brien out yet, although he has failed to hang onto Jay Leno’s viewers, there or plenty of opportunities for him to create his own scandal. I hear they are making a Balloon Boy costume; perhaps he can do something with that. The Heenes certainly did well with media coverage with the original balloon.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
