In most of the country, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" went head-to-head with "Late Show with David Letterman" and NBC's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
TODD WILLIAMSON/Invision/AP, file
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" beat "The Late Show With David Letterman" in the ratings in its first outing at 10:35 p.m. weeknights in most of the country but couldn't catch "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," reported deadline.com Wednesday.
In national ratings, "Kimmel" drew 3.097 million viewers, CBS' "Letterman" had 2.882 million and the "Tonight Show" won the night with 3.274 million viewers.
"Kimmel" beat "The Late Show" in the 18-49 adults demographic with 887,000 viewers - 30 percent more viewers in the advertiser-coveted group. The "Late Show" has 683,000, the website reported. The "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" won the night with 1.04 million in the demographic.
The talk show, which airs at 11 p.m. in the metered markets of Milwaukee, Chicago and San Antonio and 11:35 p.m. in Tulsa and Kansas City and in other cities, replaced "Nightline" starting Tuesday. In Tulsa, "Kimmel" moved from midnight to 11:35 p.m. and "Nightline" moved to 12:35 a.m.
Instead of "Kimmel," KTUL airs the syndicated situation comedies "Two and a Half Men" and "According to Jim" at 10:35 p.m. and 11:05 p.m., respectively, weeknights.
Wednesday, Pat Baldwin, KTUL president and general manager, explained why Kimmel is delayed in Tulsa.
Each station has their own contract with the network and ABC has always allowed channel 8 to air half-hour sitcoms for one hour following its local newscast instead of network programming, said Baldwin. The station's existing contracts with syndicators also dictate specific airtimes for some programs.
Baldwin, who has been with KTUL for 16 years, said the affiliate has owned those "late fringe" time slots for years and that the comedies "work" for the station.
"The sitcoms always do higher (ratings) than the traditional talk shows like Kimmel or Letterman," he said in a phone interview. "It's not just something we have always done. It's something that has always worked better for us."
In general, higher ratings mean higher revenue for a station because ratings are used to determine advertising rates. Tulsa viewers are also more willing to watch a half-hour show and then stay up to watch a second short show instead of committing to an hour-long program such as "Kimmel" at 10:35 p.m., he said.
What has made the situation confusing for viewers, as it did when KTUL tape-delayed "The View" for months until it caught on, are the network promos that tout a specific air time. They can’t be easily covered up by the station, said Baldwin whose station received a few calls about it.
Unless there is a national crisis that requires news coverage following its local newscasts, the station has historically aired syndicated programming, he said.
"Nothing has changed on our part," said Baldwin.
Here's a look at last night's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" with Jennifer Aniston.
