Jimmy Kimmel's 11:35 Debut Tops Leno and Letterman in Ratings

Jimmy Kimmel is now Live! an hour earlier -- and on his first outing in late night's prime 11:35 p.m. slot, early returns have ABC comedian pulling well ahead of competition Jay Leno (NBC) and David Letterman (CBS).
 
Preliminary Nielsen numbers give the broadcast a 2.8 rating and 8 share in households (over Letterman's 2.7/7 and Leno's 2.4/6).

Markets with Local People Meters have Kimmel pulling a 1.0 rating with adults 18-49 and a 5 share. That's over Leno's .8/4 and Letterman's .6/3. In its new time slot, Nightline fared about as well as Kimmel did in his old hour, a .5 rating with adults 18-49 and a 3 share.

In the fourth quarter of last year, Live! was averaging a 0.5 rating and a three percent share with adults 18-49. The average night also saw Kimmel pull 1.9 million viewers.

During that same period, Leno's Tonight Show earned a 0.8 adults rating and 3.5 million viewers. The Late Show had a 0.7 adults rating and 3.1 million viewers. Nightline topped them all with a 0.9 adults rating and 3.9 million viewers.

Final ratings and viewership details will be available later today...