The Leno Story that isn't getting a lot of Press

It has been quite a while since I wrote about the Conan O'Brien/Leno situation, so I think it is relatively safe to go back to that topic.

Now, if you've been reading headlines about Jay Leno's ratings since he returned, there is one message that everyone wants to make clear: The Tonight Show is beating Letterman consistently.

But sometimes there is interesting information that isn't being reported. Case in point, the website TV by The Numbers has been tracking the trends for Jay Leno's ratings, and something surprising has happened. (or not, given your point of view)



That's right. Apparently Jay Leno is getting Conan O'Brien's numbers, with a better lead in (it is sweeps right now).

The above data also shows that David Letterman is getting generally stronger ratings against Jay Leno than against Conan for the same period in each of their most recent respective runs as host of The Tonight Show.

Now, in the coming weeks, I am going to be following this to see how these trends bear out, but I have to say, it isn't looking good for Leno.

Tags: jay leno, david letterman, ratings, conan o'brien, tv by the numbers, decline, graph