David Letterman Beats Jay Leno During November Sweep for First Time in 17 Years

Modest late night shake-ups give Letterman his first November win among the coveted adults 18-49 since 1994, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" year-to-year gains and Craig Ferguson a demo advantage over "Late Night."

11:46 AM PST 12/2/2011 by Michael O'Connell

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Jay Leno's Tonight Show remains the most-watched series on late night, but for the first time since 1994, Late Show with David Letterman topped his talk frenemy in the especially coveted 18-49 demographic.

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At the end of the November sweep, national ratings give Late Show an average 0.9 rating in the key demo, besting The Tonight Show's 0.8 rating. The number also marks Letterman's best competitive position in a November sweep among adults 18-34 since 1995.

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Overall, NBC's The Tonight Show topped CBS' Late Show in total viewers, with Leno averaging 3.6 million and Letterman averaging 3.41 million.

Elsewhere on CBS, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson beat Late Night with Jimmy Fallon among adults 18-49 with a 0.9 and 0.8 rating respectively. It marks the Late Late Show's first November demo win over Late Night in the series history.

Jimmy Kimmel Live, on ABC, pulled in its most-watched November sweep to date, averaging 1.986 million viewers -- a 7 percent gain from the same period in 2010. He tops both Ferguson and Fallon in overall viewers, airing 35 minutes earlier at 12:00 midnight E.T.