Sign Of The Times? Daily Show Boasts More Young Viewers Than Late Night Network Shows

by Hillary Busis | 4:25 pm, November 4th, 2010

» 13 comments

Maybe it was the buildup to Election Day, or hype about the Rally To Restore Sanity, or the simple fact that neither David Letterman nor Jay Leno runs a very youth-friendly show. In any case, the ratings for October are in—and for the first time ever, The Daily Show ranks Number 1 among viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, beating every one of its network competitors.

Here’s how each late night show fared last month, courtesy of TV by the Numbers:

1. “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” – 1.3 million viewers

2. “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” – 1.2 million viewers

3. “Late Show with David Letterman” – 1.2 million viewers

4. “The Colbert Report” – 900,000 viewers

5. “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” – 800,000 viewers

6. “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” – 700,000

7. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” – 700,000

8. “Chelsea Lately” – 650,000

9. “Lopez Tonight” – 450,000

No late night program other than The Tonight Show or Late Show With David Letterman has claimed that Number 1 spot since at least 2000. Additionally, the press release says that The Daily Show attracts more adults 18-24 and more men 18-34 than any of its competitors. Note also Colbert’s strong 4th-place finish in the ratings—taken as a one-hour block, The Colbert Report and The Daily Show have more viewers 18-49 than anyone else on this list, even if there is some overlap between both audiences.

It’ll be interesting to see how these rankings change in the months following the election (and the rally), especially considering Conan O’Brien‘s new show premieres November 8. In the meantime, though, Jon Stewart and his team deserve hearty congratulations. It’s been a big week for them.

Conan, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, Late Night WIth David Letterman, Rally To Restore Sanity, stephen colbert, The Daily Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

felixw

The Left turns to comedians for its talking points these days. Hence, the election results on Tuesday.
Cancon2

Well with numbers like that, you can say, I am the cream of the crap.
ampleforth

Lenin did say, “Give us the child for 8 years and it will be a Bolshevik forever”. He’s just a funny-man professor continuing the education.
http://political-lobotomy.blogspot.com/
http://gulag17.blogspot.com/
ampleforth

How the hell does George Lopez get 450,000 to watch that crappy show?
http://gulag17.blogspot.com/
http://political-lobotomy.blogspot.com/
The_Reasonable_Lib

felixw said:
The Left turns to comedians for its talking points these days. Hence, the election results on Tuesday.

And the right turns to a self-professed rodeo clown who says nothing he says should be taken seriously. What’s your point?
http://twitter.com/pewestlake Paul Westlake

18 – 49 is the stupidest “demographic” ever. 49-year old people are not “young.” Half of them are already going through a mid-life crisis. And 18 is nowhere near even a thirty-something. Media, across the board, just has a terrible understanding of actual demographics and what they mean. It’s important to blur the lines to keep ad revenue up, so it makes sense from a business standpoint. But as a reliable measure of anything about society, it falls short.
felixw

The_Reasonable_Lib said:
And the right turns to a self-professed rodeo clown who says nothing he says should be taken seriously. What’s your point?

My point was made on Tuesday…..
Harry Flashman

No mystery here.

Leno and Letterman lost whatever edge they had long ago (especially Letterman for whom the term “bitter has-been is particulaurly apt). In short, they suck. Both of them.

Stewart, like him or hate him, is smart and perceptive, has good writers and mugs for the camera like no one since Johnny Carson.

But then, I like Chelsea Handler better than Leno or Letterman, so what do I know?
CosmosDan

felixw said:
My point was made on Tuesday…..

And things will never change again, because that’s how reality works.
http://www.libertarianism.com/ Jack Burns

Ya my grand kids are always fighting over who to watch the Daily Show or Dora the Explorer
Cecelia

Don’t look now, but Mr. Clown-Nose-Off-Clown-Nose-On… had a private meeting with THE Secretary of the Treasury!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-04/geithner-visited-jon-stewart-last-april-to-talk-about-economy-not-comedy.html
Some_Dude

Paul Westlake said:
18 – 49 is the stupidest “demographic” ever. 49-year old people are not “young.” Half of them are already going through a mid-life crisis. And 18 is nowhere near even a thirty-something. Media, across the board, just has a terrible understanding of actual demographics and what they mean. It’s important to blur the lines to keep ad revenue up, so it makes sense from a business standpoint. But as a reliable measure of anything about society, it falls short.

Well said. That is such a huge sample size it’s essentially meaningless. 18-24, 25-31, male/female, those would actually be enlightening.
http://twitter.com/pewestlake Paul Westlake

Some_Dude said:
Well said. That is such a huge sample size it’s essentially meaningless. 18-24, 25-31, male/female, those would actually be enlightening.

Agreed. I also hate the overlap demos, like 18 – 39 / 25 – 48 / 32 – 55. What the hell is the point of obscuring three or four generations within overlapping demos? Oh, right. Ad revenue. ;-)