'Jay Leno Show' premiere gets strong start

UPDATED: NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" is off to a very strong start.

The debut of NBC's high-wire-act 10 p.m. comedy show was seen by 18.4 million viewers and pulled a 5.3 national adults 18-49 rating.

That's 39% stronger in the adult demo than the final national household rating for Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show" debut in June (9.2 million viewers and a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating) and 56% higher than Leno's final "Tonight Show" in May (11.9 million viewers, 3.4).

Leno's first evening back on NBC featured an interview with Jerry Seinfeld and a rather fortuitously timed appearance by Kanye West (video clips).

Critics were somewhat unimpressed by the debut (reviews here), nearly unanimously commenting how similar Leno's new show is to his tenure while hosting "The Tonight Show." Naturally, the format of "The Jay Leno Show" will be tweaked continuously in the coming weeks.

After drawing criticism for crowning Conan O’Brien “The New King of Late Night” after his debut, NBC declined to brag about “The Jay Leno Show” and continued to emphasize the network is in a long-term fight.

"It was great to have him back," said NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker at the annual Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference.

Zucker said he was "very pleased" with the audience, but added that "there's a very long way to go from here. We'll judge this on 52 weeks, not one night. The fact that it opened so well is a great sign.”

The boilerplate statements leading up to the debut from NBC and the media that Leno’s premiere doesn’t matter were only half true. It's a bit like saying the first primary in a presidential race doesn't matter just because it doesn't choose the president.

The debut doesn’t matter since Leno performed well, and the industry knows a big opening doesn't signal where a show will settle and that there will be significant drops in the coming days. But if Leno crashed out of the gate -- despite a huge build-up and millions of marketing dollars (pic) -- it could have been disastrous for the network, putting a stigma around the show that could have affected critics, public perception, booking guests and advertising. 

Leno improved on his lead-in, NBC's "America's Got Talent" (13.9 million, 3.3). "Leno Show" also didn't hurt "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," which drew a 3.0 metered market household rating and 1.4 adult demo number -- both higher than O'Brien's recent performances.

Zucker said advertiser response to Leno has "actually been quite good" even though he acknowledged that the Leno show has not commended the same rates as a successful one-hour drama would.

Zucker was also asked about Jerry Seinfeld's joke as Leno's first guest Monday night that maybe he should get a 9 p.m. show on NBC. "If he'd like to begin negotiations today, we would certainly be open to it," the CEO quipped, but signaled he clearly saw the Seinfeld comment as a joke and wouldn't expect anything to happen.

Asked if NBC is using the new Leno show as a first step to get out of primetime programming, Zucker said: "We're not shutting down primetime hour-by-hour," signaling that his team is focusing on profitability rather than revenue though. "We don't need to have the biggest sales, but the best business model," he said.

Georg Szalai in New York contributed to this report.

Related:

>> "Jay Leno Show" reviews -- Critics say the new Jay a lot like the old Jay.

>> "Jay Leno Show" clips -- See Kanye West's apology, Leno's monologue and his "interview" with the president.

>> "Jay Leno Show" poster reviewed (Best & Worst Fall TV Ads Graded)

>> "Jay Leno Show" ratings prediction -- Playing the biggest guessing game in town