'Daily Show' Beats Leno, Letterman In Ratings For First Time

MILESTONE: 'Daily Show' Beats Leno, Letterman For First Time

"The Daily Show" reached a milestone this week, as newly released ratings revealed that the Comedy Central show was the top show in the coveted 18-49 demographic for the month of October. This marks the first time in at least a decade that the top spot has not gone to either "The Tonight Show" or David Letterman's "Late Show."

"The Daily Show" drew 1.3 million viewers in the demo, whereas the other two averaged 1.2 million viewers.

The networks contended that, if reruns were not counted by Nielsen -- Jon Stewart's show is only judged on how many people watched all new episodes, and does not take the ratings for repeat episodes into account, whereas Leno's and Letterman's ratings are judged by how many people watch every single episode, regardless of whether it is new or not -- their shows would have beaten their Comedy Central rival.

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