Wondering how Conan O'Brien did on his first night as the new host of The Tonight Show on NBC? I have all the info & the ratings for the week after the jump......
Running to the song Surrender by Cheap Trick, Conan won the late night race by a mile. His first night at the desk was a record-breaking 7.1 million viewers. It was The Tonight Show's strongest "overnight" results since the 1/24/05 telecast featuring a special tribute to Johnny Carson. The Late Show with David Letterman had only 2.8 million viewers tuning in. The combined ratings for ABC's Nightline, at 2.7mil & a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live at 1.2 million, were no contenders either.
I loved Conan's opening. His 'run to LA' was classic Conan & later, his Universal Studio tour was great, especially when he stopped at the 99ยข Store. The show completely lost my interest when Conan's first guest came out. I'm not a big fan of Will Ferrell, but just once, I'd like to see him be himself. As a friend told me, he's always "on" & it's just annoying. I switched to Dave & watched Bill Cosby instead.
Conan's second night still had the viewers, but just not as many. He did nicely with 5 million watching him chat with Tom Hanks. He also got to go shopping ala Pretty Woman, but with NBC's budget, he had to settle for the shops on Rodeo Road instead of the famed Rodeo Drive. Music by Green Day, there to promote their US tour, was the icing on the cake.
Okay, let's move on to the ratings for this past week, May 25-31st. As you can plainly see, CBS is still the dominating force. Their nightly repeats trounced the competition. George Strait & his ABC special, AMC Artist of the Decade did manage to squeeze in there at #3. NBC, which has been absent most weeks, had 3 shows making the list. Expect more of the same in the following weeks.
Mr. Nielson's "Top Twenty" list for the week of May 25-31:
1. NCIS (tues. repeat) CBS 12.5mil
2. The Mentalist (repeat) CBS 12.4mil
3. George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade CBS 10.6mil
4. CSI (repeat) CBS 10mil
5. Without a Trace (repeat) CBS 9.7mil
6. NCIS (thurs. repeat) CBS 9.6mil
7. Without a Trace (repeat) CBS 9.6mil
8. Two and a Half Men (repeat) CBS 9.3mil
9. So You Think You Can Dance (thurs.) FOX 9.2mil
10. Criminal Minds (repeat) CBS 8.9mil
11. 60 Minutes (repeat) CBS 8.8mil
12. So You Think You Can Dance (wed.) FOX 8.7mil
13. Wipeout ABC 8.7mil
14. Medium NBC 7.9mil
15. CSI: Miami (repeat) CBS 7.8mil
16. Cold Case (repeat) CBS 7.7mil
17. Rules of Engagement (repeat) CBS 7.3mil
18. Dateline NBC 7.2mil
19. Law & Order: SVU (repeat) NBC 6.8mil
20. Million Dollar Password CBS 6.7mil
(tie) TV's 50 Funniest Phrases NBC 6.7mil
As you all know, the old people (like me) don't count when it comes to advertising dollars. The 18-49 yr old ratings are considerably different. FOX's So You Think You Can Dance was in the top two spots, followed by ABC's WipeOut. The big surprise was NBC's airing of the NHL Finals, which came in at #7. This is good news for the NHL & hockey fans. CBS does NOT dominate this list.
The "Top Ten" list for viewers 18-49 for May 25-31:
1. So You Think You Can Dance (thurs.) FOX 4.7mil
2. So You Think You Can Dance (wed.) FOX 4.6mil
3. WipeOut ABC 4.3mil
4. Two & a Half Men (repeat)CBS 3.5mil
5. Family Guy (repeat)FOX 3.5mil
6. The Mentalist (repeat) CBS 3.2mil
7. NBC NHL Stanley Cup Final #2 NBC 3.1mil
8. The Simpsons (repeat) FOX 3mil
9. Rules of Engagement (repeat) CBS 3mil
10. NCIS (repeat) CBS 3mil
Here's how some of the other network shows & 'premieres did their first week. FOX may have a winner with MENTAL with 5.8 million viewers. I haven't seen it yet. Has anyone else? Let me know if I should be watching. I'm desperate for something good to watch. I don't think ABC's The Goode Family will be around for long. I watched for about 10 minutes & switched. It was just stupid. Fans of ABC's Pushing Daisies are getting some closure on Saturday nights. They will be airing the final 3 episodes for the next few weeks. They will follows this with the final episodes of Eli Stone & Dirty Sexy Money. (...and I forgot to watch!)