( CNN ) -- What has Jay Leno done lately for NBC in late night ? Well , even the network 's official Wednesday announcement of his ouster ( in spring 2014 ) acknowledges that `` The Tonight Show '' under Leno 's reign continues to rank No . 1 in both total viewers and advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds . That 's against ABC 's recently relocated `` Jimmy Kimmel Live ! '' as well as CBS ' longstanding `` Late Show with David Letterman , '' according to Nielsen Media Research . Nonetheless , NBC will be pushing him out for a second time , with `` Late Night '' host Jimmy Fallon taking over `` in conjunction '' with the network 's coverage of next year 's Winter Olympic Games from Sochi , Russia ( scheduled to run from February 7-23 ) . NBC Universal CEO Steve Burke says in a statement that `` we are purposefully making this change when Jay is No . 1 , just as Jay replaced Johnny Carson ( in 1992 ) when he was No . 1 . Jimmy Fallon is a unique talent and this is his time . '' Carson retired under his own power , though , surprising NBC in the process . Leno is unwillingly walking the plank , as he 's made clear in recent monologues with barbed jokes at NBC 's expense . But if this indeed is Fallon 's time , it may be in large part because we live in very different times . The Internet-driven `` social media '' did n't exist during Carson 's storied 30-year reign . He simply had to deliver a conventional TV audience . He did so year after year against a variety of competitors in a much less crowded late-night field . Fallon averages 1.7 million viewers compared to 3.5 million viewers for Leno , according to the NBC release . He also draws fewer 18-to-49-year-olds , although a later time slot certainly is a factor in both cases . But Fallon , as well as Kimmel and TBS ' late night standard-bearer , Conan O'Brien , all excel in a social media arena that remains of little if any interest to either Leno or Letterman . Networks increasingly see this as a key ingredient in times when conventional TV ratings continue to sag amid myriad channel choices . Let 's look at their respective number of Twitter followers . As of this writing , Fallon 's personal page has 8.33 million and O'Brien is right behind with 8.09 million . Kimmel weighs in with 2.42 million followers , meaning he still has some work to do on this front . But Leno , via the official Tonight Show site , has just 525,000 followers . And Letterman 's Late Show page has 234,000 followers . The host does n't have a personal Twitter page , although some are tweeting in his name and using his picture , according to a Late Show representative . Fallon and Kimmel also boast a number of `` viral videos '' with star supporting players ranging from first lady Michelle Obama to actor Ben Affleck . Fallon 's recent `` Evolution of Mom Dancing '' performance with Obama became an immediate YouTube sensation that to date has more than 15 million views . In announcing Fallon 's promotion , NBC noted that his show `` has continued to garner attention for its viral videos , '' with the host also winning an Emmy in the `` Interactive Media Category '' after being named 2009 's `` Webby Person of the Year . '' This week 's TBS press release on extending `` Conan '' through November 2015 touches only briefly on O'Brien 's conventional Nielsen ratings performance among young adults . But the network says a mouthful about his social media prowess . It bears repeating because it 's so illustrative of the value networks place on out-of-the-box moxie . O'Brien 's show `` leads the late-night crowd when it comes to online activity and engagement , '' says TBS , `` with the show and its host drawing more than 8.3 million followers on Twitter , 2 million fans on Facebook , 2 million unique users each month on TeamCoco.com and 15 million video views each month on TeamCoco.com and YouTube . '' Not only that , but the Team Coco app won the 2012 Emmy for `` Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Enhancement . '' The great unknown , at least from a financial standpoint , is whether all these accolades and millions of off-network fans will lead to appreciable sums of money in the bank . We 'll likely never know with Leno and Letterman , though . Their skill sets basically begin and end with putting on a show each night . In the now vast multimedia universe , that may be akin to sending a message via telegraph instead of e-mail . After all , these really are n't just the late-night wars anymore . They 're the anytime , anywhere wars , with Fallon , Kimmel and O'Brien arming themselves to the hilt . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ed Bark .
Ed Bark : Jay Leno still No . 1 in late night for NBC , but network replacing him with Jimmy Fallon . He says NBC says it 's Fallon 's time , and that may have much to do with social media . He says Fallon , O'Brien can deliver Twitter , other followers that Leno , Letterman ca n't . Bark : Network making it clear that 's important . 11:35 AM PT --