'Jimmy Kimmel Live' bests Leno and Letterman in first head-to-head battle

On his first night in the highly competitive 11:35 PM timeslot, early returns indicate that Jimmy Kimmel emerged victorious from the ratings war over Jay Leno and David Letterman.

According to preliminary Nielsen numbers from the 56 metered markets, Tuesday's broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC scored a 2.8 rating with an 8 share in households, topping the 2.7/7 and 2.4/6 ratings registered by CBS's The Late Show with David Letterman and NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, respectively.

In the all-important adults 18–49 demographic, Kimmel drew a 1.0/5 rating among the 25 markets with local people meters, while the Tonight Show earned a 0.8/4 and the Late Show earned a 0.6/3.

Kimmel's first show in the new timeslot featured Jennifer Aniston as his first guest, following a segment entitled "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" in which stars such as Selena Gomez, Larry King, Dr. Phil, Simon Cowell, Jessica Biel, Hayden Panettiere, Anderson Cooper, and Bryan Cranston read some unpleasant messages posted about them on Twitter. Aniston came out for her interview wielding a sledgehammer, which she used to bust up Kimmel's desk, and then proceeded to give the talk show host a haircut after a lengthy discussion about their shared vacation over the holidays. No Doubt was the musical guest of the evening.

Did you see Jimmy Kimmel's first 11:35 show? What did you think?