Jimmy Fallon prime-time special ratings a good sign

NBC’s Best of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon prime-time special posted stronger rating than you might expect.

The two-hour Sunday night special delivered 5.7 million viewers and a 2.0 rating among adults 18-49, beating ABC and CBS. For a late-night clip show on a Sunday night on NBC, this is impressive — it’s NBC’s best performance in this slot without sports or the Golden Globes in about a year. With Fallon set to take over The Tonight Show from top-rated Jay Leno after the Winter Olympics, the performance doubtless gives NBC a little more optimism (see Fallon’s first Tonight promo).

Sunday’s big winner, of course, was Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49s NFC wild-card playoff game in Wisconsin. The pre-primetime game was fought amidst the “polar vortex” winter storm that doubtless drew many non-fan curious viewers to watch NFL stars shiver (I was one of them). The preliminary household ratings (a 27.7) suggest it was Fox’s biggest NFC Wildcard Game ever, up 17 percent over last year’s Seattle vs. Washington game.

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