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TwitterLetterman beats O'Brien, restarts late-night battle
The late-night ratings throne had belonged to "The Tonight Show" for years, but with a new host on NBC, the battle for viewers may be heating up again.
According to overnight metered-market ratings for Tuesday night, "The Late Show with David Letterman" overtook "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" for the first time. Letterman, boosted by an appearance from one of his favorite guests, Julia Roberts, scored a 3.4 rating in the 56 metered markets (which cover about 70 percent of the country), while O'Brien's show pulled in a 2.9. (Conan's primary guest Tuesday was Eddie Murphy.)
Letterman's Tuesday win follows a very close race on Monday night, when "The Tonight Show" edged out "The Late Show," 3.1 to 3.0. Final late-night ratings for this week won't be available until midway through next week.
O'Brien averaged a 4.7 metered-market rating in his first week as host of "The Tonight Show," about 20 percent above the show's average for the second quarter of this year. Following a big opening on June 1, however, the show has lost some audience each night since then.
So what's it all mean? At this point, probably not a whole lot. The downward "Tonight Show" trend is not a good thing for NBC, but chances are it will stabilize over a longer haul. CBS, meanwhile, has to be happy about its first victory and the general narrowing of the gap between "The Late Show" and "The Tonight Show." But as far as any longer-term predictions, seven nights of head-to-head competition is just too small a sample size.
CBS was the late-night leader for a while after Letterman moved there in 1993 -- until a combination of Jay Leno becoming more comfortable as "Tonight Show" host, expanding his opening monologue, the O.J. Simpson trial and the famous, post-Divine Brown appearance by Hugh Grant helped give "The Tonight Show" a lead that it rarely relinquished for the rest of Leno's tenure.
It will be interesting to watch how things shake out between the two shows over the next few months, but it will probably take at least that long before a clear picture of which one comes out on top emerges.
Related:
VIDEO: Julia Roberts teases David Letterman
'Tonight Show' roundup: Strong ratings, mostly good reviews
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
I find Letterman to be way over the line in his constant political attacks.
His latest attack on Bristol Palin was totally out of order, considering he fathered a child out of wedlock and other indiscretions. People in gl*** houses .....
There's a big difference between a financially more-than-secure adult making a decision to have a child than a teenager. Dave is raising his kid (and has wed the mother who he has been with for 20 years) while Bristol Palin broke up with her baby daddy and said getting pregnant/having the kid was a big mistake. Gee, you think?
David Letterman's comment about the "Rape" of "Willow Palin", who is only 14years old,by Baseball player "Alex Rodriguez" borders on criminal action.. Making jokes about "Sarah Palin" is one thing, but making Jokes about a 14year old girl getting raped is completely out of line, and "Letterman" should apologize or be fired.
"Conan OBrien" is not the right replacement for the "Tonight Show", and his style of humor, as he calls it, is not even funny..Just Stupid...If he remains the Host of the "Tonight Show", this will definitely be the last years of the "Tonight Show" because nobody will watch, or attend the shows..
"NBC", if it is smart, will waste no time in replacing "Conan OBrien"..
Shut the hell Pete.
Why don't you go put some makeup on that pig Sarah Palin and then throw yourself into a polar bear's cave.
TV's have something called a remote control you *******. If you don't like Letterman's jokes, then change the channel you dumb idiot!!
DAVE is NOT political . Douchebag.
Disclaimer: I watched Jay every night. I've never watched Conan (and never will).
I just wonder how much longer NBC will keep him around with his ratings tanking so badly.
Isn't this the 1st time Dave has won in like 17yrs+?
Nobody expect Conan to keep his debut 7.1 rating, but if he can't even pull 3's in the next few weeks... NBC would be rise to pull the plug and bring back Jay.
If Letterman does not get off the political bandwagon he will loose all. People want entertainment not to hear the tired old political smears.
O Brian is ok but not good now, but better then a political spiel.
Ross
X -- Yeah, Conan looks to be a disaster!
David Letterman makes me PUKE!! He's so fulla hate and stupidity I can't believe that he still has a show. I'd watch a blank screen before giving that moron the time of day!!!
i love conan but i knew he was never going to beat dave (i dont find dave particularly funny)... oh well its still good comedy. when you have shows like 30 rock and conan you kinda stop worrying about ratings and just keep laughing