Stephen Colbert leaves late night as the king of the ratings, which made his cancellation even more confusing to industry observers. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has ranked No. 1 among total viewers for years, and hype over the series finale sparked ratings gains in recent weeks.
According to Nielsen data, he finished the first quarter of this year with a small lead over ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which has seen viewership rise recently thanks, most likely, to President Donald Trump’s continued attacks on the comic, who enjoyed widespread public support after his suspension last year.
Colbert has been No. 1 in total viewers for nine straight seasons, moving ahead of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2017 and never relinquishing his lead. For the past seven seasons, he has also been No. 1 in the key adults 18-49 demographic, which advertisers care about (though Kimmel edged ahead in first quarter this year).
The host has done a great job of nearly maintaining predecessor David Letterman’s numbers in an era of fast-falling ratings. When the latter announced his retirement, he was averaging 2.8 million total viewers per night, per Nielsen. During first quarter of this year, Colbert averaged 2.7 million.
To put that in perspective, nearly every show on television has suffered steeper viewer declines in that same period.
Stephen Colbert Ratings In 2026
During first quarter of 2026, Late Show averaged 2.7 million total viewers, Nielsen says, the same as the previous year. Again, flat is the new up, so maintaining the audience against the lure of online videos, video games and social media is an accomplishment.
Colbert’s closest competitor, Kimmel, averaged 2.53 million viewers in that same span, up 6% over 2025. Tonight Show lagged well behind at 1.33 million viewers. Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, which airs at 11 p.m. vs. 11:35 p.m. for the broadcast shows, was close to Fallon with 1.13 million viewers.
Kimmel averaged 23,000 more 18-49s than Colbert at 256,000, but the latter was up 3% from the previous year. Fallon was third among the broadcasters at 177,000—but Daily Show topped them all in the demo with 261,000, seeing a double-digit percentage increase over last year.
Stephen Colbert Ratings Surge In Final Month
Not surprisingly, the hype over Colbert’s final episodes has sparked an increase in his ratings. Last week, he hosted the four other major late night hosts (Kimmel, Fallon, NBC’s Seth Meyers and HBO’s John Oliver), boosting the Late Show to a season-high 2.819 million viewers.
It was his largest audience since January 2025, when he aired a Sunday night episode (Late Show usually only airs on weeknights) following the AFC Championship Game.
