NBCNEWS star Katie Couric has taken Hollywood and late night TV by storm, overnight NIELSEN ratings show, after the TODAY show host tried her hand at TONIGHT duties -- with stunning success!
Last night's 7.4 rating/18 share for Couric from Burbank is near record-levels for late night, with an audience size gauged at nearly double over last Monday night's standard Jay Leno run on NBC.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the flip, Jay Leno's hosting of Couric's TODAY on Monday morning maintained audience levels from last week, with a 5.9 rating/18 share.
MORE
"Couric may, in fact, be the true heir to Johnny Carson!" joked one NBC executive from New York, who asked not to be named.
"Everything Katie touches turns to magic," said the source, "we are just so proud of her."
[Gone are the memories of Couric substituting for NBC NIGHTLY NEWS when Tom Brokaw took a sabbatical. During the summer fill-in, Couric scored one of the lowest ratings in the history of the broadcast.]
MORE
Couric's hosting of TONIGHT reorganized audience levels across the board in late night, according to NIELSEN.
Immediately following Couric, NBC's CONAN popped to 2.9 rating/11 share, up more than 30% from last Monday.
CBS headliner David Letterman managed a 4.1 rating/10 share featuring the SURVIVOR winner, opposite Couric, down from the previous Monday's 4.8/12.
Developing...
-----------------------------------------------------------
Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereportArchives.com for updates
(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2003
Not for reproduction without permission of the author
The Drudge Report does not own, operate or maintain DrudgeReportArchives.com and is not responsible for it in any way.