Nightline Racks Up Ratings

Jimmy Fallon tops Craig Ferguson in ratings race

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno owned the 11:35 time slot last night, smashing both David Letterman and ABC’s combination of Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel as curious viewers tuned in to see Leno take back the Tonight Show gig. Leno scored a 5.7 rating, compared to 3.0 for Letterman, 3.4 for Nightline, and 1.8 for Kimmel, Entertainment Weekly reports. More»

David Letterman still wins, but he's in a class of his own

(NEWSER) - Despite all the publicity heaped upon them in recent weeks, there are more late night hosts than just Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien. After years of following the major late night shows, Michael Giltz decided the time has come to declare a new king. His final verdict? Craig Ferguson, but only if you take David Letterman out of the running. Check out his thoughts, from the Huffington Post :

• David Letterman: “He's already ascended to the pantheon, alongside Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Dick Cavett, and just a few others. His legacy is assured, so he doesn't get ranked alongside the others.”
• Craig Ferguson: “He's been charming the pants off us for some 1000 shows now and doing it effortlessly,” and last night’s show—during which he eschewed the audience and simply talked to Stephen Fry for an hour—“was an arresting, wonderful hour akin to the glory days of Dick Cavett.”

O'Brien-NBC deal said to be $45 million; tomorrow's his last Tonight Show

(NEWSER) - NBC and Conan O’Brien reached a pricey divorce early today, but that didn’t slow the Tonight Show host's relentless tirade against the network last night. A constant stream of monologue disses wasn’t enough, so O’Brien unveiled his latest revenge scheme: Waste as much of the network’s money as possible (watch full episode here ). Guest Adam Sandler then offered up his own story of being fired by NBC (watch in the gallery, along with other clips including Jay Leno bashing David Letterman’s married life and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's two cents). Updates on the Conan deal: More»

As Tonight Show saga continues, Leno and O'Brien face off

(NEWSER) - As the late-night shakedown gets messier, Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien seem to be turning against each other—and David Letterman is clearly on Team Conan. The Late Show host wants O’Brien to appear on his show “not to rub NBC's noses into their huge mistake, but to welcome Conan with open arms and show him that despite the way his old network has treated him, America loves him,” a source tells PopEater . More: More»

Late night funnymen still rivals

(NEWSER) - Jay Leno lobbed a softball when he defended his move to primetime by telling Keith Olbermann, “10:30 is like 11:30 used to be.” And archrival David Letterman knocked it out of the park last night, reports Gawker, reminding viewers in his opening monologue that his show is “still at 11:35.” The competition between the hosts dates back 15 years to Leno snatching the Tonight Show out from under Letterman. More»