First on LateNighter: David Letterman’s return to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert drew the show’s second-largest audience of the season—and its strongest share in years.
According to preliminary Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, last Thursday’s episode averaged 2.713 million total viewers.
That puts the episode just behind last Monday night’s Strike Force Five reunion, which drew 2.819 million total viewers by the same measure.
Letterman’s episode also delivered a 10.48 share, the highest for any regular Late Show episode in more than three years. Only two football-boosted Sunday specials—the show’s February 2024 post-Super Bowl episode and its January 2025 post-AFC Championship episode—have posted higher share numbers in that span.
Letterman’s visit came as Colbert winds down his run at the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Letterman launched and hosted Late Show for 22 years before handing the CBS franchise to Colbert in 2015.
As we’ve reported, the episode turned into a full-blown throwback to vintage Dave, with Letterman and Colbert leaving the studio, heading to the roof, and tossing CBS-owned set furniture off the top of the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Thursday night’s strong preliminary numbers cap a remarkable ratings week for Colbert, whose Monday night Strike Force Five reunion marked a season-to-date high for The Late Show. Between Letterman’s visit just three nights later and a Wednesday night episode featuring Barack Obama taking the “Colbert Questionert” that drew 2.67 million viewers, Colbert posted his three strongest live-plus-same-day performances of the season in the same week.
Thursday night’s numbers are also likely to grow once delayed viewing is factored in. (Monday night’s Strike Force Five reunion grew its audience by 46% in the days following its broadcast, with an average 4.2 million total viewers tuning in per live-plus-three numbers.)
Linear ratings data also do not include online viewing on YouTube, social media, or Paramount+, where Letterman’s return has continued to circulate after broadcast.
This coming Thursday’s series finale is expected to build on last week’s highs as Colbert bids farewell to the show (and the network) that he’s called home for 11 seasons.
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