Stewart, ESPN and "Mad Men" Drive Cable

When cable executives want to make the parity argument going forward, the most firepower may come from Jon Stewart.

Cable reaches fewer homes and much of it is geared towards niche audiences. Yet even with those hurdles, Stewart topped both Leno and Letterman in key ratings in the second quarter, albeit if using original episodes only. Yes, a cable show outdrew "The Tonight Show," the American hearth when Johnny Carson held court and a continuing stalwart with Leno. And Letterman's top-10 list and notable guests were not enough to topple clips mocking Glenn Beck and more of Fox News. It wasn't a wipeout, the Hollywood Reporter reports: Stewart barely edged the NBC star, with an average of 1.295 million viewers (18 to 49 demo) versus 1.292 million. Letterman had 1.096 million. And when using the traditional metric for late night -- averages for all telecasts, including repeats -- Leno beat Stewart's "Daily Show" in the quarter handily, with averages of 1.283 million and 1.167 million, respectively. Still, more Americans get their late night from Comedy Central than from any other source? Seems like Comedy Central might still be able to play with the ABC News-rooted tagline.