This makes perfect sense to me. When both shows are fresh, people prefer to see Leno. When both shows are reruns, we watch the shows that we haven't seen yet, so reruns boost Letterman's ratings. I watch Letterman, I enjoy him alright. He's not bad. But I'll be going back to Leno when the product is fresh again and it'll be no surprise when the ratings go right back there with me.

It is unbelievable that the writers who create all the content can't get a few extra dollars when the media moguls make tens of millions(sometimes hundreds of millions)of dollars.
The person who creates should ALWAYS get a large share and yellow dog contracts should be illegal.
Americans who support individual Freedom and creativity will stand with the writers.

I'm usually sleeping anyway....

Being a regular Letterman viewer, the strike has had the opposite effect on me.
I've been catching a few more Leno shows and found last week's retro idea fun.

Tonight Angelina Jolie is on Dave, so he won me back.....for now.

Ever stop to think that most of America watches The Tonight Show on a regular basis, so reruns are just that...reruns!!

Since I never watch Letterman, like they say: "It's new to ME!!"

Um, why don't they just start putting together
their own material independently and broadcast
away? What's the matter? I think it's 'fire
at the propaganda factory', I wish that Jay
would get all stupid and do more shows about
his garage and invite the science kids on to
show how hydrogen and stuff can work. I think
the show's supposed to be in CA, anyway,
why not bring in all the hippies with the
alternative energy, call it the Grape Nuts
special, but show how they could even probably
produce that TV show and be off-grid if they
wanted to. Science, read about it, learn it,
don't be afraid of it! Energy independence,
woohoo! No more having 3rd world countries
trying to tell us what to think/do etc...

Even in reruns I'll take Letterman over Leno and I'll happily watch Craig Ferguson over and over also even though I don't mind Conan, I only watch during the daytime reruns because I'd never choose Conan over Ferguson.

I don't find Leno funny in any way. I find his humour to be juvenile and his special segments are very unoriginal. I've been a Letterman fan since day 1 and he still cracks me up. I find it especially touching to watch when he talks about his son.

I love David Letterman. His stupid Bush speeches segment is fantastic.

Letterman is the thinking person's comedian, and Leno may have put a noose around his neck in this matter.

Leno is...boooooooooring.

Love Crrrrraig Ferrrrrguson!

Letterman makes $36 million a year ($3 million a month). He owns his show and Craig Ferguson's. Both are produced thru his Worldwide Pants Productions. He also produced Everybody Loves Raymond. So $5 million is chump change to him.

Leno was #1 for SEVEN years before this strike. If the only way Letterman can be number one is thanks to a strike, what does that tell you?

Leno is simply not funny. He's a caricature of a talk show host. While his writers may produce funny jokes, he can't deliver them. Is it any wonder that Johnny Carson, from retirement, was secretly writing jokes for Letterman? The greatest of them all was a Letterman fan. That must have annoyed Leno to no end. I NEVER watch Leno. He's just not that good. I may tune into the Tonight Show when Conan takes over, though. Unlike Leno, he is funny and has talent.

Even new shows are re-runs in the world of television.

I stopped watching the Tonight Show when Jack Paar left.

I stopped watching Leno do anything almost 20 years ago, after-- in a personal appearance at the wonderful old (now, alas, destroyed) Syria Mosque--the Shriners' hall, not a Muslim place of worship-- Leno made cruel sport of an obviously mentally-ill woman, the one familiar then to most Pittsburghers because she traveled around the city and warned people to "stay inside." We recently moved back to Pittsburgh, and I haven't seen that woman, but she was almost a fixture years ago...harmless and dedicated to spreading her gospel about some coming disaster. I wonder what happened to her.

I think that people overlook Leno's basic nasty streak. He served as a lesson to my children that people can be both very funny and outright mean, but other than that, it is hard for me to find anything good about the man (especially since I stopped looking years ago).

Well, I digress, but I gave Leno another chance during this strike--watched him twice, and then decided that RERUNS of Letterman are better!

Wow. What a 'no brainer'. Ya think the regular Letterman fans may possibly be tuning in to see Leno too? Even a rerun is new to you, if you haven't seen it. D'uh.