For the
first time in 15 years, ABC's Nightline has finished the 2009-10
season as the most watched late night program among total viewers, according to
Nielsen.
Nightline averaged 3.71 million viewers
followed by CBS' Late Show with David Letterman (3.63 million
viewers) and NBC's Tonight Show (3.50 million), which began the
season with Conan O'Brien.
Nightline placed second to The Tonight
Show among the 18-49 demographic pulling in 1.26 million viewers to Tonight's
1.43 million. Late Show averaged 1.20 viewers in the 18-49 demo.
Among
news' target sales demographic of 25-54 year olds, Nightline tied
with Late Show (1.54 million), while The Tonight Show pulled in
the most in that demo with 1.65 million.
"This is a very
proud day for all of us at ABC News," James Goldston, executive producer
of Nightline, said in a statement. "Every member of our show works
extraordinarily hard each day to bring great stories and unique journalism to
all of our viewers. This team has earned all of the success that Nightline has
achieved in recent years."
(Average for 09/10 Season)
TOTAL VIEWERSA25-54(000)/ Rtg
A18-49(000)/ Rtg
ABC "Nightline" 3,710,000 1,540,000/
1.2 1,260,000/ 1.0
CBS
"Late
Show" 3,630,000 1,540,000/
1.2 1,200,000/ 0.9
NBC
"Tonight" 3,500,000 1,650,000/
1.3 1,430,000/ 1.1
