O’Brien’s last night as host of “The Tonight Show” drew a preliminary rating of 7.0, which translates to about 8 million households. But more impressive, he scored a 4.8 rating in the key demographic of viewers 18 to 49, one of the highest scores for any show at any time of night on network TV this year.

By comparison, Jay Leno’s so-called last show as host of the “The Tonight Show” earned a final household rating of 8.8, topping O’Brien by about 2 million households. But O’Brien did better with young viewers, as Leno’s “finale” scored only a 3.4 rating in that group.

-Zurawik, Baltimore Sun, 1/23

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