"Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Posts Lowest Ratings Since 1992
Jul 3, 2010
by Kate Stanhope


Less than six months after Jay Leno returned to hosting "The Tonight Show", the show's ratings are the lowest they've been since 1992, Variety reports.


In the second quarter of this year, the average total audience declined from 5 million viewers last year to 4 million viewers. This time last year featured a number of high-profile episodes, including an interview with President Barack Obama, Leno's final night and Conan O'Brien's debut as host.






"The Tonight Show" still beat David Letterman in the adults-18-to-49 demo, as well as in total audience. "Late Show with David Letterman" also dropped to its lowest audience totals since the show's first year on the air (1993), averaging 3.3 million viewers in the second quarter this year.

"Late Show" was also topped by "Nightline" in total viewers for the first time since 2000, with "Nightline" averaging 3.7 million viewers.






When Leno returned to the "Tonight Show" desk in March, he attracted an impressive 6.6 million viewers. However, his second first night hosting was still 58 percent lower than O'Brien's ratings on his first night on the job in June of 2009.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Tonight-Show-Ratings-1020171.aspx

I stopped watching because of the new music, new stage set up and on top of all that Jay just looked like he was comfortable with the new format.

to me jay just looks bored and disinterested most of the time he might not mean too but he just does

to me jay just looks bored and disinterested most of the time he might not mean too but he just does


Exactly and that's why I stopped watching-lol

Not to mention that Jay looks totally out of his element without Kevin. I think the band saw the writing on the wall and that's one of the reasons they split.

Not to mention that Jay looks totally out of his element without Kevin. I think the band saw the writing on the wall and that's one of the reasons they split.


are you saying Kevin left since March? He was on there when I watched in March

are you saying Kevin left since March? He was on there when I watched in March
Kevin, Smitty, Vicki and the rest left a couple of weeks ago and were replaced by a whole new band. But I agree that the show was just been plain no fun to watch these past few months. Neither was the 10 pm show. What a shame. ohno:

Kevin, Smitty, Vicki and the rest left a couple of weeks ago and were replaced by a whole new band. But I agree that the show was just been plain no fun to watch these past few months. Neither was the 10 pm show. What a shame. ohno:



well that explains the low ratings, Kevin is gone and I will stay GONE-LOL

well that explains the low ratings, Kevin is gone and I will stay GONE-LOL
Who knows, if the ratings stay this crappy, there may not BE a show to watch in the long run. NBC should've just left well enough alone before this whole mess started.

It's his lowest ratings in 18 years yet he's still beating Letterman...

I wonder how Dick "Conan Has Been an Astounding Failure" Ebersol is going to spin this! :crazy:

It's his lowest ratings in 18 years yet he's still beating Letterman...
Really tells you something, doesn't it? :eek:

Maybe the public is just tired of late night talk in general. Whereas Carson, Snyder and others (including early Letterman) used to have diverse, interesting guests from all walks of life, today's hosts pretty much have nothing but celebrities hawking their latest project, and the interviews don't go much further than "so tell me about your new movie/tv show/DVD/book..." with a few snarky attempts at humor thrown in.

Add that to the fact that with Carson you had a host that made fun of all politicians while today's hosts seem to betray their political leanings quite openly, and that's just boring and predictable.

Jay and Dave have been around for a long time now, probably too long. Johnny knew when to call it quits, and as much as I admire the contributions of these classic hosts, maybe it's time for them to do the same?

I wonder how Dick "Conan Has Been an Astounding Failure" Ebersol is going to spin this! :crazy:
I think he's eating crow now!!

And how about that OTHER late night show on ABC with that Jimmy Kimmel guy?How is HIS talk show doing in the ratings?

Ricky Minor is no Kevin Eubanks, that's for sure, but I still don't mind the switch-up. Remember how awkward Kevin was in his first days? I sure do, and it reminds me of the awkwardness that Ricky brings. lol. In time, I'm sure him and the band and Jay will warm up and mesh very well together. I kinda like the new music. It's more jazzy. Jay is still his old self. He seems much more comfortable back in latenight than he did at 10pm, that's for sure. It's too bad ratings are down - hopefully they'll go back up in time, because I can't see Jay leaving for another 5 years minimum, as long as NBC still wants him.

^ No argument here. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

Ricky Minor is no Kevin Eubanks, that's for sure.

From a musical standpoint, Ricky Minor and the new Tonight Show Band are better than Kevin Hubanks. The reason that the average public is not as fond of Minor yet is because they are used to the relationship between Jay and Kevin.

You don't understand how refreshing it is to musicians in 2010 to see a well-oiled band in any media spectrum. Kevin made band leaders look lazy and made the job look unimportant. That's not to say Kevin and his Tonight Show Band were not good musicians, but they can't be put on the top of any pedestal.

Still, there has been no better late night band than Doc Severinsen. Shaffer is the closest that's come along.

The Max Weinberg 7 of Conan O'Brien's Late Night were nothing to sneeze at, either. I always enjoyed them.

I wonder how Dick "Conan Has Been an Astounding Failure" Ebersol is going to spin this! :crazy:

Conan still did far worse. Leno still has 4 million viewers while Conan only had about 2.5 million. Letterman was usually beating Conan while Leno ALWAYS beats Letterman.

I just think the late night trend has hit a lull since none of them are doing that great. George Lopez doesn't even get 1 million viewers a night anymore. We are living in an age where people get so much of their entertainment from other electronic sources outside TV.

Conan will do great his first week or so on TBS and then he'll tank when people realize he's NOT FUNNY!! Even Conan fans only gave him meidocre reviews on his comedy tour.

Ricky Minor is no Kevin Eubanks, that's for sure, but I still don't mind the switch-up. Remember how awkward Kevin was in his first days? I sure do, and it reminds me of the awkwardness that Ricky brings. lol. In time, I'm sure him and the band and Jay will warm up and mesh very well together. I kinda like the new music. It's more jazzy. Jay is still his old self. He seems much more comfortable back in latenight than he did at 10pm, that's for sure. It's too bad ratings are down - hopefully they'll go back up in time, because I can't see Jay leaving for another 5 years minimum, as long as NBC still wants him.

Yeah, Leno is workaholic and his monologue is still the best there is. I hope he stays on as long as he can. Why not stay on till 70 or even later? As long as he has the energy he can do it.

Larry King is about 77 and he's only now SEMI-retiring. Betty White is 88 and still going strong.

It's his lowest ratings in 18 years yet he's still beating Letterman...

YES and he's still beating him by a pretty large margin too! You have to be deaf, dumb, and mute to not realize that Leno is MUCH funnier than Letterman!

From a musical standpoint, Ricky Minor and the new Tonight Show Band are better than Kevin Hubanks. The reason that the average public is not as fond of Minor yet is because they are used to the relationship between Jay and Kevin.

You don't understand how refreshing it is to musicians in 2010 to see a well-oiled band in any media spectrum. Kevin made band leaders look lazy and made the job look unimportant. That's not to say Kevin and his Tonight Show Band were not good musicians, but they can't be put on the top of any pedestal.

Still, there has been no better late night band than Doc Severinsen. Shaffer is the closest that's come along.

Agreed, but perhaps that's what the viewers liked about Kevin. Not only were Jay and Kevin great together, but Kevin was very laid back. Not lazy, I wouldn't say, but just there having fun and doing his thing. I guess he really was done at the end. He wanted to move on, and now Ricky Minor is a breath of fresh air to the show. He is a great musician and a high-class band leader, which is why I welcome the change.

Yes - I loved the way Jay and Kevin bounced off each other. Plus, Kev was the bandleader/sidekick for over 15 years, so of course it's not the same. But Ricky Minor is a fine musician, and I'm sure he'll find his niche in time.