NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon marked its 10th anniversary last night with a highlight-packed special spotlighting a decade’s worth of viral hits, favorite sketches, musical performances and interviews.
Despite fierce Tuesday night TV competition, viewers flocked to see Fallon in primetime. NBC’s linear broadcast averaged 3,578,000 total viewers with 537,000 P18-49 viewers from 9-11 p.m. ET, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. That placed the program at No. 1 on all of TV at 9 pm among adults 18-49 (excluding sports), and No. 2 at 9 p.m. in total viewers (behind only CBS’ FBI: International).
Fallon’s 10th anniversary special delivered more total live-plus-same-day viewers than any episode of The Tonight Show in at least a year, and more P18-49 viewers than any Tonight Show episode since Thanksgiving Day 2023, when the program had a highly rated NFL game as its lead-in.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: 10th Anniversary Special aired against multiple NBA playoff games on Tuesday night. As a result, it’s likely to see a significant ratings bump in the coming days via delayed viewing. Based on past viewership trends, the show could see up to eight million total linear viewers when Nielsen live-plus-seven-day data is reported next week. That would be a huge number for a late-night special in 2024, and that doesn’t even take streaming viewership on Peacock into account.
The sixth Tonight Show host, Fallon has now led the show longer than anyone except Johnny Carson and Jay Leno . As LateNighter’s Bill Carter wrote yesterday, Fallon has crafted a variety-centric Tonight Show that’s drawn more views and followers on YouTube and social media than any of his late-night counterparts.
