Call it curiosity or chalk it up to the legions of fans of "Jarret's Room," but last night's debut of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon was something of a smash. According to James Hibberd's "The Live Feed" at The Hollywood Reporter website, Fallon's first show drew a 2.3, the highest ratings for Late Night in over three years, and scored higher than the recent debuts of Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel as late night hosts. Granted, this was only the first episode—and a fairly mediocre one at that—but NBC has to be excited that initial interest was so high. That gives them a higher precipice from which to begin the gradual fall.
Speaking of the ratings game, Hibberd also reported some interesting news yesterday concerning the Nielsen metric known as "Live+7," which takes into account TV viewers who don't watch shows as they air, but instead wait a day or two (or, uh, seven). The most time-shifted show, by percentages, is Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which gains 36% more viewers when DVR viewings are factored in. Also picking up steam in the Live+7s: Dollhouse (up 30%), Scrubs (up 30%), and Friday Night Lights (up 25%). Bear in mind that all the shows just mentioned post anemic numbers even with the bump. Terminator, for example, jumps from a 1.4 to a 1.9, and FNL from 1.2 to 1.5. The highest rated show to get a significant Live+7 bump? Lost, a Top 25 show that gets 25% higher ratings when Live+7s are factored in, jumping from a 4.4 to a 5.5.
Neat, huh?