late night show ratings
Late night show ratings have become a lot more fragmented, with some clear winners in total viewers and others winning in the key 18–49 demo while the overall genre slowly shrinks.
Current ratings snapshot (2025–early 2026)
- ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! grew in both total viewers and adults 18–49 during 2025, a rare bright spot in the traditional late night landscape.
- CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert still pulls the largest overall audience at 11:35 pm, but its demo numbers fell compared with 2024 and it is heading toward a final-season wrap in 2025–26.
- NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon continues to trail Kimmel and Colbert in both total viewers and the demo, and its 2025 averages slipped versus the previous year.
- Fox News’ Gutfeld! is a major outlier, pulling bigger total audiences than the broadcast late‑night shows despite airing on cable at 10 pm, and it posted notable year‑over‑year gains in 2025.
- In the later slots, Late Night with Seth Meyers and CBS’s After Midnight both saw declines, while ABC’s Nightline held steadier in total viewers but lost ground in the demo.
Approximate 2025 averages (U.S., Live+7)
These are rounded ballpark figures from 2025 season reporting.
| Show | Network / Slot | Avg total viewers | Adults 18–49 demo | Trend vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert | CBS – 11:35 pm | ≈2.5 million | [3][1]≈0.23 million | [1][3]Viewers slightly down, demo down notably | [1]
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! | ABC – 11:35 pm | ≈2.0 million | [1]≈0.23 million | [3][1]Up in viewers and demo | [1]
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | NBC – 11:35 pm | ≈1.3 million | [3][1]≈0.18 million | [3][1]Down in viewers and demo | [1]
| Gutfeld! | Fox News – 10:00 pm | ≈3.3 million | [1]≈0.25 million | [1]Strong gains year over year | [1]
| The Daily Show | Comedy Central – 11:00 pm | ≈0.93 million | [1]≈0.20 million | [1]Viewers down, demo slightly up | [1]
| Late Night with Seth Meyers | NBC – 12:37 am | ≈0.95 million | [1]≈0.12 million | [1]Down in viewers and demo | [1]
| Nightline | ABC – 12:37 am | ≈0.90 million | [1]≈0.11 million | [1]Viewers slightly up, demo down | [1]
| After Midnight | CBS – 12:37 am (ended 2025) | ≈0.66 million | [1]≈0.09 million | [1]Down vs 2024; cancelled after two seasons | [1]
Big trends behind the numbers
- Overall erosion of live viewing : Traditional late night keeps losing linear viewers as people shift to streaming, clips, and on‑demand comedy.
- Fragmented attention: Viewers are more likely to catch a monologue or sketch on YouTube or social feeds the next day rather than watching a full hour‑long show.
- Demographic squeeze: Even when total viewers hold up, the crucial 18–49 audience has been slipping for several legacy shows, which hits ad revenue.
- Cable vs broadcast twist: A politically driven show like Gutfeld! can beat broadcast competitors in total viewers by super‑serving a niche audience that still watches live TV.
Forum and fan discussion vibes
In fan communities and TV forums, a recurring argument is that the format itself feels dated, not necessarily the hosts. You’ll often see comments saying late‑night shows have turned into “scheduled podcasts with ads you can’t skip,” contrasted with the flexibility of actual podcasts and creator channels.
Common talking points include:
- The monologue–desk bit–two interviews–band structure feels predictable compared with looser online formats.
- Viral clips now matter more than overnight ratings; people care if a sketch trends, not if a show “wins” its time slot.
- Younger viewers are perfectly happy to watch only the bits that show up in their feed, skipping everything else.
One representative forum take frames it this way: the question has shifted from “Did you see that show last night?” to “Did you see that clip?” which captures how the metric of success is changing.
Where this might be heading
- Expect more experimentation with format (shorter episodes, more panel‑style segments, hybrid podcast/video releases) as networks chase digital audiences while still selling linear ads.
- Shows that lean into strong, shareable segments and clear host identity are likely to outperform raw time‑slot competitors, even if overnight ratings look flat.
- As The Late Show with Stephen Colbert moves toward its end, there will probably be a reshuffle of audience loyalties in the 11:35 pm slot and more debate about whether a classic desk‑and‑couch show still makes sense in the streaming era.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
