By Ryan Parsons | Image property of respective holders, Variety
Jay Leno
When they started running those hilarious "found video" ads before movies in the theaters for the upcoming premiere of The Jay Leno Show, I immediately became interested. Sure, I didn't like how things were handled by Leno when it was time for him to step down, but it looks like he at least hasn't lost his sense of humor. If anything, his new show looked even more kickback and fun to watch. But I didn't see it, as it plays just too early for my hours. No matter, as 18.42 million viewers were still able to catch it. Holy sh*t!
The Jay Leno Show Opens Huge
Ahead of expectations, The Jay Leno Show premiered to 5.3 rating/14 share in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen. Besides Leno's established popularity, NBC gets credit for its massive marketing; something that landed Leno on the cover of Time magazine.
Leno's primetime debut saw 50% more viewers than his final farewell on The Tonight Show. While it's still too early to tell how well the film will do in the long run, NBC is remaining surprisingly pessimistic considering the drops they saw after Conan's debut as King of late night. They've set an incredibly low bar, one that Leno should easily stay above in the coming months.
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