US TV: Jay Leno bested by Conan O'Brien in late night ratings

November 9, 2010

Television audience ratings for U.S. TV host 's first program ' last night were higher than rival Jay Leno and his late night program on, '. O'Brien's ratings were also higher than network's, as well as  programs hosted by  and.

Monday marked O'Brien's return to late night television after his departure as host of The Tonight Show on NBC following, in which Leno's program  was canceled after poor ratings, and NBC reinstated Leno as host of The Tonight Show.

O'Brien's debut program featured guests including Arlene Wagner of the, actor  and actress. His guest schedule for Tuesday night's program included actors and, in addition to music from the group.

The premiere of Conan was watched by over 4.1 million viewers. data made public today showed that Leno's program The Tonight Show was only watched by 3.5 million viewers, and Letterman's Late Show was seen by 3.4 million people. ' and ' were watched by 1.3 million and 1 million viewers, respectively.

O'Brien announced his move to TBS, a cable channel founded by and owned by, in April.

O'Brien's viewership trended towards younger people, with 2,451,000 individuals ranges from ages 18 to 34 – and 3,285,000 people in the 18 to 49 age demographic. Leno's The Tonight Show, in comparison, only drew in 950,000 people in the same younger demographic breakdown.

In an analysis of O'Brien's ratings win, Dave Itzkoff of  wrote, "the debut of 'Conan,' the new late-night show starring Conan O’Brien, got off to a strong start". James Hibberd commented for , "Conan O'Brien is enjoying a sweet, sweet victory in the ratings."