Viewership down for late-night talk shows

Viewership is down significantly for late-night talk shows

Both Letterman and Leno are down significantly. Both Ferguson and Fallon are down. George Lopez is way down. The viewers are not going to Comedy Central, which is just even with last year. Only Kimmel is prospering.

The article suggests that most of the decline stems from revised viewing habits. At 11:30 more people are passing up the talk shows in order to watch earlier programs that they have recorded. The DVR/TIVO group represents a million additional viewers compared to last year, and Jimmy Kimmel is up .2 million. That balances out almost perfectly with Leno and Letterman's declines, which equal 1.2 million between them (Leno .9, Letterman .3).