RATINGS STRONG FOR LATE-NIGHT SHOWS

NEW YORK (AP) — Television viewers welcomed late-night hosts with open arms for their first night back at work in two months because of a writers strike. Jay Leno’s "Tonight" show on NBC was seen by 7.2 million viewers, or 43 percent more than what he had been averaging this season before the strike took him off the air Nov. 5, according to national ratings supplied by Nielsen Media Research.

David Letterman’s "Late Show" on CBS had 5.5 million viewers, 45 percent more than his pre-strike average, Nielsen said.