NEW YORK -- While David Letterman was still recuperating from heart surgery, "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" easily out-rated Letterman's "Late Show" for the week of Feb. 14-18.
NBC's "Tonight Show" averaged 6.34 million viewers, topping the 3.84 million for "Late Show Backstage," according to Nielsen data. Still, season-to-date, ratings for "Late Show" are up 7% (3.1 rating/9 share from 2.9/9), while Leno is down 4% (4.5/13 from 4.7/13), compared with the same period last year. In viewers, "Late Show" is up 12% (3.95 million from 3.54 million), while "Leno" is even (5.97 million).
Meanwhile, in the week's early-morning Nielsens during the week of Feb. 8-14, ABC's "Good Morning America" was up a whopping 24% from last year during the same period (4.1/16 from 3.3/13). But, NBC's "Today" remained the most watched ayem news show, averaging a 5.3/21 (up 8% from a year ago). Meanwhile, CBS' "Early Show" was down 12% (2.2/9 from 2.5/10) from last year when "This Morning" was still on the air.
In the Sunday ayem public affairs battle, NBC's "Meet the Press with Tim Russert" continued its winning streak, placing first for the week with a 3.9 rating/13 share. ABC's "This Week" was second with a 2.5/8, CBS' "Face The Nation" was third with a 2.3/7 and Fox's "News Sunday" finished fourth with a 1.3/4.
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