News roundup: Late-night ratings, Joy Behar, 'Chuck'

News and notes from around the TV-verse ...

Network press-release hyperbole is always fun -- like this bit from NBC about the final ratings numbers for "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien's" premiere week:

"Conan the New King of Late Night"

As we noted Wednesday in a post about CBS' "Late Show" topping Conan's "Tonight" for the first time in the metered markets, it's awfully early to make any sort of grand pronouncement like that. But O'Brien did have a pretty good first week, averaging 6.1 million viewers and a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49.

"The Tonight Show" beat "The Late Show" (3.5 million viewers, 0.9 18-49 rating) by big margins, and also ended the week significantly ahead of its season-long average of 5.2 million viewers. O'Brien is also bringing in the younger viewers advertisers live: The show's 18-49 rating for the week was its highest in more than four years.

That said, O'Brien's ratings had slipped some each night, to the point where David Letterman's "Late Show" beat it on Tuesday. "The Tonight Show" stopped the slide Wednesday, rising to a 3.2 in the metered markets (over Tuesday's 2.9) and edging "The Late Show" (3.1) for the night.

"The View" co-host Joy Behar is getting a show on HLN (formerly CNN Headline News), where she won't have to share a couch with anyone she doesn't want to.

The hour-long show, which will launch in the fall, will let Behar expound on the news of the day and put her own particular spin on it. As Behar herself puts it, "I'm an opinion freak. I love to offer my own and I love to hear other people's take on things, so this show is a great opportunity for me."

She'll continue her "View" gig as well.

NBC has scheduled "Chuck" for a March premiere -- but the show could be ready to go before that if needed.

So says Vik Sahay, who plays Buy More Nerd Herder Lester on the show. He tells TV Guide that the show begins filming its third season in August, so "We will be ready to come back whenever we're asked to come back."

Sahay also confirms that if "Chuck" does well in the spring, the network could extend the show's order beyond the 13 episodes it's asked for so far. "That's the hope," he says. "[NBC co-chairman Ben Silverman] said he'll push us into the summer with a back nine [order], so we're planning on making the shows that good."

Related:

Letterman beats O'Brien, restarts late-night battle
NBC's fall 2009 and midseason 2010 schedules

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