Hope for Jay? ‘Leno Show’ halts ratings slide

Has Jay Leno changed course?

In recent weeks, NBC’s primetime talk show has halted its heavily reported ratings slide, a decline that was fairly steadysince the show’s September debut.

For the past 11 episodes in a row, Leno’s programhas either maintained or improved its adult demo rating compared to the previous week. Often, “Leno Show” has increased despite a declining lead-in as the holidays approach. And last week was Leno’s most-watched since mid-October.

Wednesday night was no exception. On Thanksgiving Eve, every other program on broadcast declined in the Nielsens. Leno, aided by a “Biggest Loser” special lead-in, went up.

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The shift might represent a turning point for the industry-polarizing series, or at least signal that the show has managed to quit shedding viewers.

One of NBC’s key arguments for putting Leno at 10 p.m. is that the show represents a year-round programming strategy, a way to remain (relatively) strong when competitors go into repeats. At first, this point rang false when rivals such as CBS’ “CSI: Miami” aired repeats and Leno declined anyway.

As the holidays get underway and viewing becomes more passive, however, Leno is either finding strength amid a weakened playing field, or is discovering his groove after weeks of creative adjustments (the show has, if anything, crept closer to Leno’s previous “Tonight Show” format). Buzz-worthy guests have helped too — Leno successfully capitalized on the “New Moon” craze, booking guests fromthe movie on two nights last week.

Leno’s recent stability doesn’t change the fact that on any given evening, his shows is usually the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network. It also remains to be seen if Leno can continue to defy gravity as the holiday slump gets underway in earnest.

Yet for fourth-place NBC, which has been hammered by reporters eager to declare “The Jay Leno Show” a failure, any positive change in Leno’s narrative is, well, something to be thankful for.