Jimmy Kimmel Owns Late Night With Wins Over Letterman and Leno
Is Jimmy Kimmel the new king of late night? Judging by last Thursday’s ratings coup, Kimmel may soon be worthy of the crown.
‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘ bested ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno‘ by 4% in the 18-49 demo, according to Deadline. Not too shabby considering Kimmel’s show comes on at midnight, a half-hour into Leno’s ‘Tonight Show’ which airs after the eleven o’clock news.
Kimmel’s victorious night didn’t end with Leno, however. ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ also felt the heat of rising competition, as Kimmel trounced Letterman by as much as 60% with adults 18-34 on May 7th and 9th and on the 11th, with a repeat. Ouch.
Kimmel also scored notable wins over late, late night competitors, beating out ‘The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson’ by 48% in adults 18-49 and putting ‘Late Night with Jimmy Fallon‘ in second place with the demo.
The numbers mark Kimmel’s first in-season win over Leno and his 7th straight win over Fallon. If Kimmel can keep it up, celebrities may have to reconsider whose couch they’ll want to be sitting on to talk-up their next big flick.