Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show gets renewed for a further FIVE YEARS despite terrible ratings… after viewers sank below a million last year
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has been renewed for a further five years, said to be a longer term commitment than what was originally promised
- NBCUniversal Television and Streaming chairman Susan Rovner confirmed the renewal on Monday, despite increasingly low ratings
- Fallon, 46, reached an all-time low in September last year when a dismal 992,000 total viewers tuned in, the first time he dipped below a million
- Even before the pandemic hit, Fallon is said to have been struggling against his peers, with rival Stephen Colbert speeding past him in the ratings back in 2018
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has been renewed for a further five years, which is reportedly a longer term commitment than what was originally promised to the host by network NBC.
The news comes after Fallon’s show drew its 4th lowest ratings ever in January, when he averaged just 1.063 million total viewers.
Meanwhile, Fallon, 46, reached an all-time low in September last year when a dismal 992,000 total viewers tuned in.
It was the first and only time that Fallon’s viewership had fallen below a million in Nielsen’s final ratings, though that particular show had been delayed due to an NHL Stanley Cup Finals game.
More to come: Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show gets renewed for a further FIVE YEARS despite terrible ratings… after viewers sank below a million last year
NBCUniversal Television and Streaming chairman Susan Rovner confirmed the renewal during NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation Monday, Variety reports.
The report adds that despite falling behind CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, Fallon is considered to be ‘part of the fabric’ of NBC, and neither the show nor his job are in jeopardy.
LATE NIGHT TV RATINGS BATTLE
1. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – 3.1M average viewers
2. Jimmy Kimmel Live! – 1.78M average viewers
3. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon – 1.56M average viewers.
(Source: Nielsen, January 2021)
Even before the pandemic hit TV ratings hard, Fallon is said to have been struggling against his peers, with rival Colbert speeding past him in the ratings back in 2018.
After slipping behind Colbert, NBC brought on news and sports vet Jim Bell to try and help win viewers back, though it does appear to have worked.
Fallon also suffered a big shake-up of his team, with head writer Rebecca Drysdale quitting in November last year.
Drysdale wrote in a Facebook post at the time: ‘They made it clear that I was not a good fit for the show, and I did not disagree.’
She added: ‘I wish it had gone differently and I had been able to be what they needed but that is not how it shook out.’
Some TV critics were predicting an all-round downturn of late night ratings once Donald Trump was out of the White House, but Colbert’s ratings have continued to surge, even outpacing Kimmel.
It was reported in January this year Colbert’s The Late Show averaged 3.4 million viewers.
In contrast, Jimmy Kimmel Live! had 1.79 million tune in, with Fallon’s The Tonight Show attracting 1.59 million, in January.
Safe: Fallon is considered to be ‘part of the fabric’ of NBC, and neither the show nor his job are in jeopardy, despite dismal ratings
All in all during the 2019-20 broadcast season – from September 2019 through September 2020 – Colbert came out on top with 3.46 million average viewers (The Tonight Show averaged 1.94 million.)
However, Fallon does lead ahead of his rivals when it comes to followers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok – which is arguably where a lot of the viewers have flocked to, rather than tuning in to their TVs.
Despite the ratings battle, all three top hosts fall short of the staggering figures from the likes of Johnny Carson, who attracted 20 million viewers in 1969, when Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki when he hosted The Tonight Show.
The previous big late night battle was between Jay Leno and David Letterman during the earlier 90s.
Rival: It was reported in January this year that Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show averaged 3.4 million viewers, putting him in the top spot
Second place: In contrast, Jimmy Kimmel Live! had 1.79 million tune in earlier this year
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