Arsenio Hall Beat Leno And Letterman Last Night With Monster Ratings

You may remember last night when we posted about the Arsenio Hall comeback, and how we thought it was pretty darn great to see him back in action again. As it turns out, there were at a couple other million others that were excited to see him, too. Leading industry rag Variety, Entertainment Tonight Canada, and Arsenio’s very own music music producer Christopher McDonald all report that Arsenio beat both Leno, Kimmel, Fallon and Letterman in his debut show. Talk about a comeback.

While it’s true – as ET pointed out – that the large numbers may be in no small part due to the fact that he’s returning to late night after 19 years, it’s certainly a big deal for Arsenio and his crew. To put it bluntly, it ain’t 1994 any more, and the late night scene is more crowded than it was when Arsenio left the air; yet ratings like that, however, will absolutely put the funnyman back on track.

Variety gave a more detailed run-down of the numbers (which are cool if you’re into that sort of thing, somewhat impenetrable if not, but worth a look nonetheless):

In key demos, “Arsenio” scored a 1.0 rating/4 share in adults 18-49 and 1.2/5 in adults 25-54 in Nielsen’s markets with Local People Meters, beating every latenight program on the broadcast networks.

“Arsenio” fared especially well in some of the largest markets, including Los Angeles, where it was the No. 1 show in its 11 p.m. timeslot on KTLA with a 3.2 household rating/9 share — up about 90% from its local news lead-in (1.7/4). Among the top 20 markets, the only ones to fare better were Cleveland (4.6/10) and Chicago (3.3/6).

Here’s hoping The Arsenio Hall Show can keep on keepin’ on… it’s a welcome alternative to the older-white-dude-in-a-suit talk show format that’s been a staple on network TV for decades.

(Image: Jose3030)

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