Letterman Beat O'Brien in Numbers, But Not Age

For the first time in over three years, "The Late Show with David Letterman" beat "The Tonight Show" in total viewers. According to Entertainment Weekly, Letterman averaged 3.46 million viewers for the week ending June 19, a 13 percent jump from the previous year at this time.

Letterman first received the late-night spotlight back in December 2005 when Oprah Winfrey appeared as his guest. This time around ratings skyrocketed in his favor after he cracked jokes regarding Alaskan Governor Sara Palin.

On the other hand, Conan O'Brien, who has been hosting "The Tonight Show" for three weeks, received only 3.32 million viewers, dropping about 450,000 from the previous week, reported the New York Times. Last year at this time when Jay Leno was the host, viewers of "The Tonight Show" averaged about 5 million.

But O'Brien still has one major factor going for him that makes NBC happy as well. His appeal to a younger audience is phenomenal. Between the ages of 18-34, O'Brien beat Leno's average of 697,000 viewers with an impressive 930,000.

Despite the total viewers, O'Brien beat Letterman with age groups of men and women between 18-34 as well as 25-54 every night last week.