After strong opening week, prime-time Jay Leno show faces real competition

Strong start for Leno show, but reality setting in

NEW YORK — If only every week could be so easy for Jay Leno.

Leno’s new nightly prime-time show had a strong opening week for NBC as he was blessed with stars, a contrite Kanye (KAHN’-yay) West, the industry’s nearly undivided attention and little competition.

The Nielsen Co. says all five of his shows last week finished among the 24 most-watched programs of the week.

Reality sets in this week as other networks begin the fall season. Day 1 was sobering: Facing the season opener of “CSI: Miami” on CBS, Leno drew only 5.7 million viewers on Monday. That’s a little more than what he was getting in late-night and is on the cusp of what NBC considers profitable for his new show in the long term.