LATE-NIGHT VICTORIES FOR EVERYONE

Each of the major late-night shows on broadcast television has found something in the latest ratings to boast about. ABC’s Nightline trumpeted the news that it was No. 1 among total views, adults 18-49, and adults 25-54. However, analysts point out that Nightline‘s ratings are based on viewership during the 11:30 p.m. to midnight half-hour, [...]

DID NBC REJECT CRITICAL STORY ABOUT ITS CO-OWNER?

NBC News is being taken to task for failing to mention on its nightly newscast the disclosure that General Electric, which earned $14.2 billion in worldwide profits last year ($5.1 million in the U.S.), paid nothing in federal taxes. Late-night talk-show host Jon Stewart was all over the omission earlier this week, and the Washington [...]

FOX AND CNN CORRESPONDENTS CONTINUE SNIPING AT EACH OTHER

In Day 3 of the secondary war in Libya being waged between CNN and Fox News, Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan on Wednesday fired back at CNN’s Nic Robertson who had said that he had seen Harrigan more often at the hotel for breakfast than out in the field reporting. In an interview with the [...]

STEWART NOW RUNNING AHEAD OF O’BRIEN IN RATINGS

Jon Stewart has surged ahead of Conan O’Brien in the late-night ratings for adults 18-49. In ratings for January, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart averaged 867,000 viewers in the young demo, while Conan drew 811,000. Conan still leads among adults 18-34, however, with 543,000 viewers to 499,000 for The Daily Show. But while the [...]

31 MILLION WATCH OBAMA AT TUCSON MEMORIAL

Nielsen Research said on Thursday that some 31 million people watched President Obama’s speech during the memorial service for victims of the Tucson shooting Wednesday night on NBC, CBS, Fox, ABC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. In his address, Obama cited scripture, praised the individuals who were killed in the shooting and those who tackled [...]

JON STEWART: A MODERN-DAY ED MURROW?

In what today’s (Monday) New York Times suggested was an Edward R. Murrow/Walter Cronkite moment in terms of the media’s influence on public policy, comedian Jon Stewart’s recent broadcasts urging passage of the 9/11 “first responders bill” are being credited for saving the bill from almost certain defeat. “I’ll forever be indebted to Jon because [...]

AD BUYERS UPBEAT OVER CONAN’S FIRST WEEK

After his first week on basic cable, Conan O’Brien’s TBS show is being assessed as a huge success by several advertising executives, Advertising Age reported today (Monday). “He’s bringing in really young viewers. The median age is over 20 years younger” than his rivals’, Amy Sotiridy of Interpublic Group’s Initiative told the trade publication. While [...]

CONAN’S RATINGS BEGIN TO LEVEL OFF

On his third night on TBS, Conan O’Brien saw his ratings slip slightly from his second night as 2.72 million viewers tuned in, down from 2.80 million on Tuesday. Nevertheless, he continued to outdraw the competition among 18-49-year-old adults. On Thursday, TVGuideOnline.com began asking its readers, “Which late-night show are you watching?” As of this [...]

CONAN VS. JAY TONIGHT

The night that NBC had flailingly fought to avoid arrives tonight: Jay Leno going head-to-head against Conan O’Brien. Last year it worried that after allowing O’Brien to take over the Tonight show it would see Leno launch a competing show on another network — probably ABC — and see its late-night ratings drop. As things [...]

JON STEWART: NEW KING OF LATE-NIGHT?

For the first time in at least ten years, the monthly ratings winner among the key demographic group of 18-49-year-old adults was neither Jay Leno nor David Letterman — but Jon Stewart. According to Comedy Central, Stewart’s The Daily Show led during October with an average of 1.3 million viewers in that demo, versus 1.2 [...]

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