CBS’s axing of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has provided a ratings boon to its rival networks, new data suggests.
On Monday, the first night that ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon returned with new episodes since Colbert signed off, Kimmel’s show dominated the competitive 11:35 p.m. time slot, according to numbers from Nielsen.
Kimmel was watched by 2.185 million total viewers on June 1, a 53 percent year-on-year increase. Data also reveals that the program attracted 295,000 viewers in the 18 to 49 demographic, which marks a significant 178 percent increase from the same night last year.
Fallon came in second with 1.301 million viewers on Monday — a 10 percent increase year-over-year. The 18 to 24 demographic viewership increased by 14 percent from last year, with 194,000 viewers.
CBS’s replacement show for Colbert, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, struggled to keep up with the competition, receiving only 628,000 total viewers, representing a 65 percent drop from the same slot compared to last year, when Colbert occupied it.
When the show premiered in the slot on May 22, it drew 995,000 viewers. By comparison, Colbert’s series attracted an average audience of 2.7 million throughout its final season on air.
Comics Unleashed, launched in 2006, features Allen alongside a rotating panel of stand-up comedians performing short comedy routines.
It now operates under a time-buy agreement in which Allen Media Group purchased airtime from CBS and handled its own advertising sales, meaning that CBS is not directly affected by poor ratings.
CBS announced the cancellation of the long-running Late Show franchise last July, just days after Colbert criticized the network’s parent company, Paramount, for reaching a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over accusations that its series 60 Minutes deceptively edited a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
The final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which aired on May 21, attracted an audience of 6.74 million viewers, making it the most-watched weeknight episode during the show’s 11-year run.
Allen has since said he’s “not trying to replace” Colbert.
“I am not trying to hold on to his audience because Comics Unleashed has been around 20 years and has its own audience,” Allen, 65, told NPR.
“And we’re speaking to people who have been ignored. And good luck finding another show that’s had on more comedians of every shape and size and color.”
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