MTV has yet to decide whether to order a second season of Jersey Shore but the latest ratings should speed up the process. Last night’s finale of the now-notorious reality show, following a group of people renting a beach house at the Jersey Shore, averaged a whopping 4.8 million viewers and a 4.8 rating in the age 12-34 demographic. That’s a 30% increase over the previous series high in that key demo. MTV reports that Shore posted incredible growth over its abbreviated season and the finale audience more than tripled that of the series debut. Many viewers also stuck around for Jersey Shore: The Reunion immediately after the finale; it delivered a 4.0 rating among persons 12-34 and attracted more than 4 million viewers.

The ongoing tug-of-war between Conan O’Brien and NBC has been a boon for ratings. The firestorm that erupted over the weekend and culminated yesterday with O’Brien’s statement that “I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction” has not only reinvigorated the monologues for all the late-night shows but given the No. 4 ranked Peacock a much-needed boost in the ratings. From Jan. 11 to Jan. 12 alone, The Jay Leno Show went from 4.799 million viewers to 6.099 million, as fans tuned in to see what the chinned one had to say about his controversial time shift. “I have to tell you, the folks here at NBC don’t handle these things well,” he said this week. “They don’t have a lot of tact. Like, after they canceled the show, they told me if I put on 10 pounds I can get on The Biggest Loser.” Leno’s been averaging 5.4 million during the fourth quarter.

At the same time, The Tonight Show has seen its overnight ratings tick up well over its fourth quarter average of 1.8 rating/5 share: On Monday, O’Brien earned a 2.3/6 in 56 local markets (the most immediate ratings available until nationals are released Jan. 22) and on Tuesday, his overnight rating jumped to a 2.8/7. His fourth quarter average in homes is 1.8/5. His yuks about his fate only seem to get better and better. “When I was a little boy, I remember watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and thinking, ’someday, I’m going to host that show for seven months,” he said on Tuesday’s show. On both nights, however, Letterman still won the timeslot (3.4/9 and 3.8/9, respectively) as he, too weighed in on the brouhaha with jokes at Leno’s expense (Letterman’s fourth quarter average is 3.0/8 in homes): “A couple of minutes ago, Conan O’Brien, who was the host of The Tonight Show over there at NBC, announced that he would not follow Jay Leno at 12:05. Yeah, so you know what this means — that’s right, I knocked off another competitor.”

Jimmy Fallon also saw his overnight ratings improve from Monday to Tuesday (1.1/4 to 1.3/5), as well, with jokes like this: “Is anyone here flying this weekend? There are so many delays at my airport, my flight was bumped from 12:35 a.m. to 1:05 a.m.”

For more on the late-night controversy from EW.com:

‘Conan:’ ‘NBC is a a big pimp,’ plus: All the other late-night hosts join Team Conan

‘The I’m With Coco’ movement

Conan’s ‘enormous personal disappointment’ with NBC decision

NBC shakes up late-night

CBS earned the most total viewers Tuesday night, but NBC pulled in big numbers with a two-hour season premiere of The Biggest Loser: Couples — it scored the highest Adults 18-49 rating for the night and saw its audience increase by 15 percent from beginning to end. ABC will be burning off new episodes of Scrubs and Better Off Ted all month; so far, not many people have seemed to notice.

Read more:
‘The Biggest Loser: Couples’ recap: Best foot forward
‘Better Off Ted’: Two episodes, one instant classic
‘The Good Wife’ poll: Appointment viewing for all?