Letterman Now Trails Both Leno And "Nightline"

[DToTheJ]

ABC's "Nightline" is now a strong second place behind NBC's Jay Leno in numbers for the week of April 26. CBS' David Letterman trails both shows in adults 18-49 and 25-54, as well as total viewers.

Full story:
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/abc/nightline_tops_letterman_trails_leno_160755.asp

But wait, there's more... more good news for Leno, that is: It appears he has now eclipsed the ratings trend of former "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien:
http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/05/0...how-ratings-trend-beats-letterman-again/50711

If I were a "Late Show" intern, I would be worried right about now.

 

[landtuna]

I've flipped back and forth between Leno and Letterman quite a bit the past two weeks. I just don't see where either is worth watching.

Leno is stale. Same old, same old every night. Monologues have gotten very poor with only the occasional ad-lib to break the monotony. Eubanks adds nothing to the show except noise. "Wallace and Ladmo" (a Phoenix kids show) had much better skits. Has been depending upon the Internet for material.....a sure sign of failure.

Letterman still comes off as a bored dirty old man. Generally more interesting guests but not enough to make it interesting. Paul-with-the-shiny-dome adds nothing. 'Science' experiments are lame.

I'm going to try "Nightline".....or maybe just go to sleep.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

Sadly, "Unwrapped" on Food Network at 11:30 is more entertaining than Jay or Dave anymore.

 

[DToTheJ]

"Wallace and Ladmo" (a Phoenix kids show) had much better skits...

I personally don't think they stand a chance against "Hot Fudge," though. ;D

 

[anotherguyTN]

Sadly, "Unwrapped" on Food Network at 11:30 is more entertaining than Jay or Dave anymore.

My late nights are taken up more with Unwrapped, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and Man V. Food than Jay or Dave now.

 

[JeeperOne]

Reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation on WGN America & (For those of you on the West Coast) Star Trek: Voyager on Spike TV are more entertaining than Leno & Letterman.

As for Nightline, while it can get boring at times, it too is FAR more entertaining than Leno & Letterman.

Just my opinion.....

Cheers

 

[Triple Fake Jerry]

In fairness, last week was an extremely busy news week with the Gulf oil spill, the Times Square bombing attempt and the Arizona fallout. Probably the best Nightline could hope for.

 

[mr.ric]

To me, an infomercial is more entertaining than Jay or Dave these days. ;D

 

[KentBrockman]

Sadly, "Unwrapped" on Food Network at 11:30 is more entertaining than Jay or Dave anymore.

My late nights are taken up more with Unwrapped, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, and Man V. Food than Jay or Dave now.

As much as I love OTA broadcast television and have grown up with it, I like seeing cable outlets steal viewers from the big antiquated broadcast networks & their 60 year old business model. Jay and Dave are stale. I'm not a Conan fan, but it will be interesting to see what he comes up with when he finally gets to TBS. Conan made a good point about cable during his 60 Minutes interview:

O’BRIEN:"I do not look down my nose at cable. And I think anyone who does isn’t paying attention to television these days. ’Cause it is– this world is changing very quickly."

There will be a day when the Super Bowl will air on ESPN... the World Series possibly on TNT. I don't think it's a matter of IF it will happen, just WHEN it will.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Letterman still comes off as a bored dirty old man. Generally more interesting guests but not enough to make it interesting. Paul-with-the-shiny-dome adds nothing. 'Science' experiments are lame.

Yeah, Dave's boring monologues for me are time killers while waiting for Leno to hit the air. And when he gets to the Top Ten, he sometimes goes off for a while about something else before getting to the actual list (it was never like that during his NBC days)!

I prefer Jimmy Kimmel's monologue instead, especially "This Week in Unnecessary Censorship." At least he's not a time waster like Letterman.

 

[DToTheJ]

There will be a day when the Super Bowl will air on ESPN... I don't think it's a matter of IF it will happen, just WHEN it will.

A better hypothesis would be the Super Bowl on NFL Network.

 

[1069_KIFR]

No, ESPN!

The World Series will broadcast on the NFL Network. The U.S. Open will be on the MLB Network. Stanley Cup on the Golf Channel. Final Four on Hockey Channel. Hee Haw on RFD.