President Obama has joined Johnny Carson, Jerry Seinfeld and the cast of “Cheers” in the pantheon of guests who have given Jay Leno his best “Tonight Show” ratings.
Thursday’s presidential appearance—the first by a sitting president on a late-night talk show—scored an eye-popping 11.2 rating/26 share in Nielsen’s metered-market overnight numbers, according to data released by NBC. That’s up a whopping 187 percent over “Tonight’s” season-to-date average (3.9 rating), and tied for the fourth highest-rated edition of “Tonight” in Mr. Leno’s nearly 17-year tenure as host.
President Obama’s visit matched the ratings “Tonight” generated in January 2005 with an edition commemorating the passing of Mr. Carson. The last time an episode of “Tonight” did better in the overnights was on May 14, 1998, the night NBC bid farewell to “Seinfeld.”
Other higher-rated milestones for Mr. Leno include the May 1993 “Cheers” finale and Mr. Leno’s May 1992 debut as host.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Leno’s huge numbers helped boost the new “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” to the best ratings of its three-week existence.
Events conspired to provide a certain perfect storm for Mr. Obama’s “Tonight Show” appearance. Mr. Leno’s chief rival, David Letterman, was both in repeats and delayed due to NCAA basketball.
Demographic data for Thursday’s “Tonight Show” should be available later today.
(Editor: Baumann)
Ratings Flash: Obama Lifts Leno’s ‘Tonight Show’
Mar 20, 2009 • Post A Comment
This was the best show. and the special olympic comment was not bad. ultra sensative americans! booo hooo
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