While Taylor Swift’s “The Tonight Show” appearance commanded an atypically high level of media attention, it did not draw an atypically large number of viewers to NBC’s late night destination.
According to preliminary data, Wednesday’s edition of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” drew a 2.9 overnight household rating.
The show, meanwhile, posted a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating win the 25 markets with local people meters.
Of the week’s three “Tonight Show” telecast, the Swift episode, which also featured an interview with Andrew Rannells and a musical performance by Ryan Adams, delivered the weakest overall performance.
Monday’s episode (Katie Holmes, Chris Hardwick, OneRepublic) posted the same 2.9 household number but a stronger 1.1 in adults 18-49. With a 3.1 household rating and 1.2 adults 18-49 rating, Tuesday’s edition (Mickey Rourke, Rob Riggle, Kings of Leon) performed better in both categories.
On the plus side, this Wednesday’s “Tonight” drew a stronger household rating than last week’s broadcast. Featuring Megan Fox, Nick Cannon and Wiz Khalifa, that episode drew a slightly weaker 2.8 household rating and the same 1.0 adults 18-49 mark.
Interestingly, that episode bested an original edition of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” by a larger adults 18-49 margin than this Wednesday’s episode did a re-run of the competitive talk show. Last Wednesday’s first-run “Kimmel” drew a 1.6 household rating and a 0.5 adults 18-49 score. This Wednesday’s “Kimmel” encore managed a 1.6 with a 0.6 rating.