Suggesting that ratings for The Jay Leno Show might be a whole lot stronger if its lead-in shows were as well, Tuesday night's episode drew 8.40 million viewers after it followed the season finale of NBC's The Biggest Loser , which averaged 13.43 million viewers, peaking with 15.15 million in the half hour before Leno . While that represented a 45-percent drop in viewers, it nevertheless gave the Leno show its highest ratings since its first week in September. Among adults 18-49, regarded by advertisers as the key demographic group, it was No. 1 in its time period, and among viewers overall it placed second to a repeat of CBS's The Good Wife . (On Wednesday night, only 4.53 million viewers tuned in as it again placed last among the major networks.) In fact, all CBS shows, including NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles were in rerun mode Tuesday but produced solid ratings nevertheless. NCIS attracted 15.01 million viewers, beating the first hour of The Biggest Loser , which drew 12.18 million. NCIS Los Angeles , which had to compete against the final hour of Loser, in which the winner was announced, came in second with 12.16 million viewers versus Loser's average of 14.7 million in its second hour.

10/12/2009