Colbert Doubles Fallon, Triples Kimmel in Late Show Debut Ratings
On his first night as host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert delivered big, drawing 6.6 million total viewers on Tuesday. That was enough to double NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which had 2.92 million and triple ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, which had 1.75 million.
Colbert also had a strong initial showing in the 18-49 demographic, drawing 1.4 million viewers compared to 900K for Jimmy Fallon and 400K for Jimmy Kimmel.
But, as expected, by night two, Colbert’s numbers had come back down to earth, while Fallon saw his numbers rise thanks to a star-studded Wednesday night show featuring both Justin Timberlake and Ellen DeGeneres.
In the early metered market household ratings for Wednesday night, Colbert’s numbers dropped 35% compared to Tuesday from a 4.9 rating to 3.2. At the same time, Fallon saw a 29% increase from 2.4 on Tuesday to 3.1 on Wednesday, meaning the two shows were essentially tied. And in the 18-49 demo, Fallon came out on top, leading Colbert, 1.2 to 0.8. Kimmel remained in third place Wednesday night with a 1.5 rating in total and 0.5 in the demo.
While Colbert’s early numbers look impressive next to the ratings David Letterman was getting the same time last year, they pale in comparison to Fallon’s 2014 premiere on NBC, which drew 11.31 million total viewers in a broadcast that followed the Sochi Olympics.
But even if Colbert’s demo ratings can stay consistently higher than those of ABC’s Kimmel, he will likely keep CBS happy. In later years, Letterman routinely came in third place with the advertiser-coveted demographic.
[Photo via CBS]
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