David Letterman Posts Worst Ratings Since 1993

Hollywood Reporter:

NEW YORK -- CBS' "The Late Show With David Letterman" tied its lowest-ever adults 18-49 rating last week.

"Late Show" averaged a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49, Nielsen Media Research said. That is its lowest ever for an original since the program premiered in 1993, though not the lowest for the show: It has hit 0.9 several times, most recently in late December when it was in reruns because of the WGA strike.

Read the whole story: Hollywood Reporter

Comments

[pbfishtaco]

Did you see their audience shares? 1.3 and 0.9? Bwaahhaaahhhaaaaahhhaaaaa.

5 year old CSI shows would probably pull better ratings. Let's face it folks, it ain't the good old days.

[KBAR]

Ole Dave need to have Bill O'Reilly as a guest more to get his rating up.

[Swift2]

I know all about the economics of TV. Some people think that "poor ratings" means bad. Quite the contrary. I could never understand that Leno is actually watched by more people. Now there's a sad, tired stupid guy.

[pundit27]

Why does the HuffPo put this on page one of its homepage? Is it because of its view of Letterman's politics, the importance of the show to CBS's fortunes, as a statement re: network TV declining? What's HuffPo's agenda here, cause it sure doesn't pass the B.S. test for a front page story.

[brendanm]

If you don't care about the story, why are you clicking on it and commenting on it? Ignore it and it won't be put in such a prominent locale.

[obamanation31]

I like Letterman a lot better than Leno. But I am usually in bed by then.

[wadenelson1]

I find Letterman a bit too cynical. One time he made fun (on national TV) of a kid whose science project wasn't as exciting as the other kids. I found that a bit cruel, over the top.

Leno, on the other hand, seems to keep it light.

Letterman will be back; they'll improve the writing, dump "will it float", the show's basically solid, just a dry spell and time for a few changes.

[nogimmicks]

I like Dave. He has more integrity than Leno. He just needs to get younger and more exciting side-kicks involved in the show. He suffers from his own loyalty to the old men and women surrounding him like Paul, Alan etc.

[standupnow]

I've been watching since the early 80s. I actually thought the headline of this article referred to the shows' quality this week, which I found to be awful. Complaints:
1) Paul Shafer, a talented musician and bandleader, now makes ever musical interlude overly loud, over the top, circus-like, with inappropriate crescendos. Just tiresome and not nice to listen to.
2) Poor guests: isn't there anyone more interesting than his guests this week?
3) Stale, self-referential jokes: writing seems much poorer.
4) Standard bits (Will It Float? Obama vs. McCain. etc. are not creative anymore).
etc.

sorry Dave, I couldn't stand you this week. Sad.

[nuglet304]

good lord. you people are brutal. one week of bad ratings out of how many? go pull the sticks outta your a$$es and take a nap if it's making y'all that unhappy.

[cultkicker]

As much as I like Dave, and I do, nobody can hold a candle to Johnny Carson. Carson was THE greatest comedian/host EVER. Letterman is a distant second, with Leno an even greater distant third.
Johnny me boy, we really, really miss you!

[pundit27]

Ditto that. Carson was the best 'cause his real cause was comedy, not social commentary or plugging friends' movies or extolling the virtues of fatherhood. Pls, Dave, get a grip; we need real laughs, not some of the crap your writers try to pass off as original sketches. Forget Great Presidential Speeches (even for Bush haters, it's so tired), also Obama v. McCain (terribly weak -- hit 'em both, but there's much more mileage if you do it individually, not in tandem), even the Top Ten List has b een at best mediocre lately -- maybe some new producing/writing blood is needed; the current crew seems bent on boring us all to sleep.

[JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin]

I miss Carson, too. His bits/sketches were hilarious (especially The Edge of Wetness, the soap opera parody), and he had a lot more style and panache than Leno and even Dave.

I like Letterman a lot more than Leno (Leno grates on my nerves like a 100 year old cheese grater), but Dave's bits are getting quite tired.

[2please]

I still love Dave's interviews, but his comedy bits are terrible, repititious and unfunny. "Will it Float?"...why? Why does he keep showing that? His announcer....unfunny every time. When he is on, I feel like I'm watching my dad try to be funny.

Also, as cute as Dave's kid is, we don't need to hear about him all the time. We have "The View " for that. Everybody has kids-- okay Dave?

[StacyJ]

"Will it float ?" is definately not funny ! Somebody should have told David that a long time ago.
I think it's cute that he talks about his son though.

[BigLib]

Maybe he should tell a few more Bush jokes. That always goes over well with the old hippies who still watch his show.

[robbor]

the last time Dave's show was any good was the night before he moved to CBS

[pattio66]

Thank you, I agree

[bluesnot]

It could be that Dave's audience isn't watching TV that much anymore.

[ReelBusy]

They do tend to fall asleep soon after the 4pm blue plate special at Denny's.

[kinnycut]

Could be he just stinks?

[StacyJ]

How do you know what he smells like?

[jhamm1]

As far as I'm concerned, the guy's been going downhill for upwards of six years. I already boycotted his show in 2002 after his top-ten list which mocked the French for refusing to support the Iraqi War resolution. As if balanced by co-existing form of karma, Letterman's wit and humor has deteriorated simultaneously, to the extent that he has become the bulk of his own end product: a joke.

[mabell75]

What can anyone say either than desperation on the show's behalf. The Colbert Report is really funny and winning over this demographic, so Letterman books Speidi as competition- Game Over, Dave take your ball and turn the light off on your way out the door.