Leno’s Heavily Hyped Debut Pays Off for ‘The Tonight Show’

Buoyed by massive promotion and reruns from the two major talk-show competitors, Jay Leno’s debut Monday night as permanent host of “The Tonight Show” drew the fourth largest audience in the program’s history.

A. C. Nielsen Co. ratings available Tuesday from 25 major markets showed that Leno’s first show got a 13.9 rating, attracting 38% of the homes watching TV at that hour. NBC estimated that about 25 million people watched. Ratings for the entire country won’t be released until June 4.

Assuming that the national rating is about the same as the 25-market rating, NBC said, the only Johnny Carson “Tonight Show” installments that got better ratings were his final two broadcasts last Thursday and Friday and the 1969 marriage of Tiny Tim and Miss Vicky.

NBC was downplaying the results Tuesday, however, acknowledging that initial ratings for talk shows historically have proven a poor gauge for ensuing performance, because of the curiosity and publicity factors.

“There’s no question he’s at a high-water mark that will come down to a new level when people will go back to their regular viewing habits,” said Greg Miller, vice president of programming for Tribune Broadcasting, which distributes “The Dennis Miller Show” as a late-night competitor. “The question is how soon that will occur. No one knows the answer.”

Both “The Dennis Miller Show” and “The Arsenio Hall Show” broadcast repeats Monday night. “Miller” will continue with reruns all week.