Jimmy Fallon just topped Stephen Colbert in total viewers for the first time since the week of June 19, 2017 — thanks Pyeongchang Olympics Opening Ceremony!
The first night of 2018 Winter Games competition on Thursday chipped in a bit, as did last Tuesday’s strong “This Is Us” — but mostly it was Fallon’s big Friday eyeball-grab bring up the averages.
Following the Opening Ceremony, the NBC late-night staple scored a 1.28 rating in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic, and 4.662 million viewers overall. That demo number made Friday’s “Tonight” episode Fallon’s highest-rated regularly scheduled one since Nov. 24, 2016.
Here’s how things shook out last week, in Nielsen averages:
1) “Tonight Show” (3.227 million viewers)
2) “Late Show” (3.157 million)
3) “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (2.148 million)
There are a few NBC-specific factors here that are important to note: First, Monday’s “Tonight Show” encore is not included in the above averages. Additionally, Thursday’s NBC results were delayed by an Olympics overrun.
Still, it must be good to be No. 1 overall again.
And yes, “Tonight” still won among adults 18-49, as it regularly does. This one was an easier victory than most.
Here are the Nielsen numbers from that metric:
1) “Tonight Show” (0.84 rating/5 share)
2, tie) “Late Show” (0.44/3)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” (0.44/3)
The week ending Feb. 9, 2018 marked Fallon’s largest overall audience average since January 2017, and his best weekly demo return since Dec. 2016.