ABC's JIMMY KIMMEL Upsets Jay Leno With First-Ever Ratings Victory

Despite its later time period (M-F 12am), ABC's Jimmy Kimmel LIVE beat NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (M-F 11:35pm) by 4% in Adults 18-49 on Thursday, marking JKL's first-ever in-season victory over the NBC late-night program.

During the week of May 7, 2012, ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live was up week to week in both Total Viewers (+2%) and Adults 18-49 (+2%) to deliver its best performance in 6 months - since the week of 11/21/11. In addition, JKL increased its overall audience over the same week last year (+1%) for the 6th straight week, while also growing among young adults (+1%) to stand as the only late-night broadcast talk show to build year to year on either Nielsen measure.

ABC's JKL stood as the #3 talk show in late-night in Total Viewers during the week, behind only NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman.

ABC's JKL topped CBS' The Late Show with David Letterman (M-F 11:35pm) by 4% in Adults 18-34, leading the CBS late-night program on 3 of the 5 days of the week: Monday (+5%), Wednesday (+60%) and Friday (+20%). In fact, on Friday, JKL's repeat telecast beat Letterman's original telecast (+20%).

ABC's JKL led NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (M-F 12:35am) by 22% in Total Viewers and by 15% in Adults 18-49 during the week, marking JKL's 7th straight win over the NBC late-night program in both viewers and young adults.

ABC's JKL outperformed CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (M-F 12:35am) by an impressive 37% in Total Viewers, drawing a larger overall audience than the CBS program in 33 of the 34 weeks this season. In addition, JKL topped Ferguson by its largest margin of the season in Adults 18-49 (+48%). The ABC late-night program outperformed Ferguson by double-digit percentages in all 5 days of the week in both viewers and young adults.

Season to date (34 weeks), ABC's JKL is building its overall audience through the same weeks last year by 3% in Total Viewers and is on track to generate its most-watched season in 5 years - since 2006-07. In fact, JKL is the only late-night broadcast talk show to grow year over year in Viewers.

ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live is the #3 broadcast talk show in late-night in Total Viewers this season, outdrawing both NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

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