This article is more than 9 years old

This article is more than 9 years old

Jon Stewart, fresh from his "Rally to Restore Sanity" in Washington last weekend, has made US ratings history by beating rivals David Letterman and Jay Leno to become last month's highest-rating talkshow.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, which airs on cable channel Comedy Central, attracted the highest average adult audience of any late night talkshow in October, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The Reporter states that it has been "at least a decade" since a talkshow other than David Letterman's Late Show on CBS or Jay Leno-fronted The Tonight Show on NBC topped the ratings.

Stewart, who has generated a lot of publicity since announcing in September he would hold a rally in Washington's National Mall, attracted an average of 1.3 million adult viewers per show during October. That put him ahead of Leno and Letterman, who averaged 1.2 million.

Late Night Talk Shows – average audiences, October 2010

1. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central) - 1.3 million viewers

2. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) - 1.2

3. Late Show with David Letterman (NBC) - 1.2

4. The Colbert Report (Comedy Central) - 900,000

5. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC) - 800,000

6. The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS) - 700,000

7. Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) - 700,000

8. Chelsea Lately (E!) - 650,000

9. Lopez Tonight (TBS) - 450,000

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