LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON LAUNCHES WITH WINNING NUMBERS

WITH A 2.3 RATING IN METERED-MARKET HOUSEHOLDS, JIMMY FALLON WINS THE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE TIME PERIOD AND SCORES STRONG INCREASES VS. DEBUT RESULTS FOR FERGUSON, KIMMEL AND KILBORN

JIMMY DELIVERS NBC’S TOP MONDAY ‘LATE NIGHT’ RATING IN THE METERED MARKETS IN THREE YEARS

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – March 3, 2009 – Last night’s premiere telecast of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" has scored a 2.3 rating, 8 share in metered-market households, giving NBC its highest Monday "Late Night" rating in the metered markets in more than three years (since January 16, 2006, 2.4). "Late Night" won the time period on a highly competitive night that featured such guest stars on the broadcast competition as Paris Hilton and ABC’s current "Bachelor," Jason Mesnick. Jimmy’s guests last night were Robert De Niro, Justin Timberlake and Van Morrison.

The debut of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" at 12:37 a.m. ET last night delivered strong increases versus the debuts of the most recently launched network late-night programs, including the January 3, 2005 premiere of CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (1.8/7), the January 27, 2003 regular-slot debut of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (2.0/7) and the March 30, 1999 premiere of CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" (1.7/7).

The premiere of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" is up 35 percent versus NBC's Monday "Late Night" average this season (2.3 vs. 1.7). The show's 55 percent retention of last night’s "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (2.3 vs. 4.2) is up from NBC's 46 percent "Late Night" average retention this season.

"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" won the time period in the metered markets, topping CBS's "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" by a 35 percent margin (2.3/8 vs. 1.7/6), despite a guest appearance by Paris Hilton and special interstitial promotions for "Late Late Show" throughout CBS's primetime. Fallon also out-rated ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" head-to-head by a 17 percent margin (2.7/9 vs. 2.3/8 in the 12:30-1 a.m. ET half-hour), despite a guest appearance by Jason Mesnick, the "Bachelor" contestant from ABC's current cycle of "The Bachelor," which concluded in primetime last night.

At 11:35 p.m. ET last night, NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (4.2/10) out-rated CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman" (3.3/8) and ABC's "Nightline" (3.9/9) and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (2.5/8).

National ratings for last night’s "Late Night," including demographics and viewer totals, are due from Nielsen on Thursday, March 12.