As Bill Carter reports at the New York Times, one side effect of Michael Jackson's death has been a big jump in Nightline's ratings, which seemed to come largely from Conan O'Brien. The night of Jackson's memorial, The Tonight Show got about two million fewer viewers than Nightline, and a million less than Late Show With David Letterman.
This may have been a breaking-news anomaly, but late-night has seemed to have settled into a pattern: Conan has shed overall viewers, with Dave beating him many nights. But Conan has gotten many more viewers in the more-lucrative 18-to-49 demographic—his average viewer age dropped nearly a decade from Leno's—making his show more potentially lucrative. Some nights, both networks can claim the number-one show on some measures.
There's a bigger issue here: what constitutes "winning" in TV? And do some viewers matter more than others?





















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