It didn’t have the Olympics to help it, but the premiere of “Late Night with Seth Meyers” got off to a solid start Monday, averaging 3.4 million viewers – enough to beat Jimmy Fallon’s “Late Night” debut in 2009.
Besides besting the 2.9 million viewers Fallon drew in March 2009, Meyers’ premiere was the largest Monday audience for “Late Night” in nine years (since an encore episode in 2005 that followed a Johnny Carson tribute).
The premiere episode – which featured Amy Poehler, Vice President Joe Biden and musical guest A Great Big World – also topped the combined audience for its competition in the timeslot, ABC’s “Nightline” (1.3 million viewers) and CBS’ “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” (1.2 million viewers).
Fallon’s first “Tonight Show” without an Olympics lead-in also held up, averaging 6.3 million viewers. That was the best Monday audience for “Tonight” (excluding Olympic nights) in nearly four years, since Jay Leno’s return in March 2010 drew 6.7 million viewers.
“The Tonight Show” also paced well ahead of its 11:35 p.m. competition, with CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman” drawing 2.6 million viewers and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” averaging 2.4 million viewers.
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