Arsenio Hall returns to late night with solid ratings Monday

Arsenio Hall is back on late night after a 19-year absence, and his return made a strong showing in ratings Monday, especially in Los Angeles, according to early numbers from Nielsen.

In Nielsen’s 25 markets with local people meters, CBS Television Distribution’s “The Arsenio Hall Show� beat all other late-night talk show telecasts in key demographics.

The show garnered a rating of 1.2 among adults aged 25-54 years old and a 1.0 in the 18-49 age group.

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For comparison, among 18-49ers, “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno� scored a 0.6 and a delayed “Late Show With David Letterman� got a 0.5 and “Jimmy Kimmel Live� received a 0.8.

“The Arsenio Hall Show,� which featured appearances by Paula Abdul, Chris Tucker and Snoop Dogg (putting aside his Snoop Lion alter ego), didn’t compete quite as well in metered market households overall.

It generated a household rating of 1.9, placing it behind Leno, who nabbed a 2.3 while Letterman got a 1.8 and Kimmel came in with a 1.9.

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Still, Hall’s household numbers were up 19% from its lead-ins and up 90% from the time period averages last year for the channels carrying his show.

Hall did particularly well in Los Angeles, where it aired on Tribune Co.’s KTLA. With a household rating of 3.2, it was the highest performing late-night talk show and also won the time period. The show aired at 11 p.m. on KTLA. (Tribune is parent company of the Los Angeles Times.)

In New York, on Tribune’s WPIX, Hall’s 1.6 rating came in second to Letterman, though it won in 25-54 and 18-49.

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