Conan's 'Tonight' wins first week despite ratings slide

Conan O'Brien's first week behind NBC's "Tonight Show" desk resulted in a strong overall ratings performance that dominated competitors and left critics generally pleased.

But after debuting to record-setting numbers Monday, “The Tonight Show” audience has shrunk with each successive episode.

O'Brien's "Tonight" premiere garnered a massive 7.1 overnight metered-market household rating, then dropped 30% on Tuesday (5.0), slipped 14% on Wednesday (4.3), went down 12% on Thursday (3.8) and fell 8% on Friday (3.5).

While Conan's debut was the highest-rated Monday episode of the veteran franchise in four years, last night was the lowest-rated Friday episode of "Tonight" in six months.

Yet Friday's number could also be a sign the O'Brien's out-of-the-gate decline is slowing. Competitors were likewise down by a similar percentage when comparing Thursday to Friday. 

Also, the first week of O'Brien's "Tonight" has averaged a 4.7 rating in the summer -- 21% higher than Jay Leno's second quarter average with the show. Several clips from "Tonight" have also received heavy online viral play, including one with Barack Obama endorsing the host that received considerable coverage.

"Tonight" beat second-place CBS' "Late Show" by a 62% margin this week. The gap between O'Brien and Letterman narrowed nearly each night, however, with the CBS program pulling a 2.7 on Friday.

Subscribe to The Live Feed! Daily email newsletter, get headlines on your Yahoo/Google homepage, follow on Twitter, bookmark mobile version...