The February 7, 2014 episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon earned the show’s highest ratings since David Letterman said goodbye to the late-night series back in 1993. February 7th marked Jimmy Fallon’s final episode of the series before taking over The Tonight Show job from Jay Leno, and fans tuned in in huge numbers to send him off.
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon‘s last episode featured special guests Andy Samberg and The Muppets.
Here’s the scoop on Fallon’s final Late Night show, courtesy of NBC:
Jimmy Fallon’s final telecast hosting Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has set series records for biggest overall audience on any night of the week and highest adult 18-49 rating for a regularly scheduled episode. In fact, it was the biggest total-viewer result for the Late Night franchise since 1993 and highest 18-49 rating for a regularly scheduled telecast since 2004.
With a 12:05-1:05 a.m. ET telecast that followed NBC’s coverage of the Sochi Olympics Opening Ceremony, Fallon averaged a 2.2 rating in adults 18-49 and 6.601 million viewers overall, according to fast-official “live plus same day” ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
It’s the biggest overall audience ever for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, eclipsing the prior record set with a special 11:56 p.m. ET telecast on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012 (6.087 million viewers).
It’s the biggest viewership for the Late Night franchise since June 25, 1993 (the final David Letterman-hosted episode, 7.521 million).
In adults 18-49, it’s the second-highest Late Night with Jimmy Fallon rating ever, behind only the post-Super Bowl telecast on Feb. 5, 2012 (2.5) and the highest-ever for a regularly scheduled Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Additionally, it’s the top regularly scheduled episode in the Late Night franchise in 18-49 since May 6, 2004 (the night of the Friends finale, 2.7).
Fallon’s 2.2 more than tripled the show’s 0.6 season average in adults 18-49 heading into this week (through Feb. 2), and last night’s telecast was up 246% versus the Late Night season average of 1.909 million in total viewers (L+SD).
In national averages heading into this week, Fallon was at a four-year high at this point in the season in viewers 18-49, while in total viewers, Fallon was delivering his top average at 19 weeks into the season in the five years he’s been hosting Late Night. Versus the first 19 weeks of the year-ago season, Fallon was up 20% in 18-49 viewers (815,000 vs. 682,000 in “most current” season averages) and up 17% in total viewers (2.012 million vs. 1.719 million, “most current”).
