Seth Meyers and ‘Late Night’ premiere: Highest ratings in nine years

This “Late Night” thing might work out OK for Seth Meyers. The former “Weekend Update” newscaster on “Saturday Night Live” delivered the NBC talk show’s highest ratings in nine years with his premiere on Monday.

Well, technically it was Tuesday morning — 12:35 a.m. to be exact. But “Late Night With Seth Meyers” delivered a 2.6 rating/9 share in households from the top 56 markets in the nation, according to Nielsen. That compares with the 1.6 rating that “Late Night” has been averaging this season.

PHOTOS: Seth Meyers’ debut on ‘Late Night’

Of course, “Late Night” is just part of NBC’s master plan to reinvigorate its late-night lineup. Last week, Jimmy Fallon — the former host of “Late Night” — took over the “Tonight Show” from Jay Leno. “Tonight” put some impressive numbers on the board for the week, but much of that may have been due to the Winter Olympics, which gave NBC higher-than-usual ratings in prime time.

But Fallon still looked strong on Monday, with a 4.5 rating in those top TV markets. That’s the best “Tonight” rating (besides on Olympics nights) since 2010, when Leno returned to the show after Conan O’Brien had hosted for less than a year.

So far, NBC’s bet is paying off. But it’s still early.

What do you think of Meyers and Fallon?

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