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May 21, 2013

Letterman beating O'Brien with old shows

by Danny Gallagher, posted Aug 21st 2009 9:01AM

Letterman and O'BrienNBC must be doing a lot of regretting these days for moving Jay Leno to 10 p.m., and not just because it screws up the perfect headline alliteration with his former competition.

It seems that David Letterman's Late Show reruns are getting higher ratings than Conan O'Brien's brand-spanking new Tonight Show episodes.

The margins aren't very wide, but it must hurt when a rival is kicking your lily-white hide and he's not even throwing any punches. It's like getting your ass kicked by a one legged Stephen Hawking.

The news isn't all sadness gravy for Mr. O'Brien. When the viewers were broken down by age, O'Brien clearly won the fight among 55-year-olds and younger. That makes Letterman the Matlock of the new millennium.

But that moniker isn't necessarily fair either, since CBS applauded their host for closer than ever to O'Brien's coveted 18 to 34-year-old demographic. So basically, they're both winners. Everyone gets a medal. Line up for free slushies after the game.

However, they are also losers when you compare both of them to their half-hour competitor on ABC, good ol' Nightline. ABC's long-running news show actually beat both Letterman and O'Brien in the ratings by thousands of viewers. My TV just loves to #*$& with my head sometimes.

[via TV Tattle]

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Jim

Is this based on last week's ratings?

Letterman's been doing new shows this week.

August 21 2009 at 6:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jim's comment
Bob

And I believe Conan has been doing repeats.

August 22 2009 at 7:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
hotdogjack

The 'alliteration' joke you were going for doesn't make any sense, nor does the Steven Hawking one, which fails on a number of levels, the most obvious being, the dude's in a wheelchair.

stop trying to be clever. this post didn't need to be any longer than the headline.

August 21 2009 at 4:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Europa

"It's like getting your ass kicked by a one legged Stephen Hawking."

Sorry, but that's just not funny ... or necessary.

August 21 2009 at 1:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
const

Letterman's the old familiar shoe while Conan's the new model.

No need to worry, viewers will realize Conan's the quality show while Dave is the retread show. It gets old after a while, just like letterman.

August 21 2009 at 10:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nffcnnr

Youth might be "where the money" is, but when it comes to quality, Letterman is where the funny is. i think Letterman's fans are more loyal, as well, so expect to see him keep the 34+ folks until he retires.

August 21 2009 at 9:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ryan

But all the networks will say that youth is where the money is. Which really is the reason for switching to Conan in the first place.

August 21 2009 at 9:27 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Aaron

Wait. So O'Brien is winning everyone under 55 years of age, but Letterman is still winning overall? How many 56+ year-olds are we talking about here? Maybe we've discovered that our senior citizens have found reason to live in David Letterman.

August 21 2009 at 9:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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