Ratings: Colbert’s Finale Week Outdraws Fallon and Kimmel Combined

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert went out with a ratings blowout, averaging 5.33 million total viewers and 708,000 adults 18–49 during its final week on CBS—enough to outdraw its two 11:35 competitors combined.

According to Nielsen Live+3 ratings data, the CBS late-night show surged 62 percent in total viewers and 126 percent in the demo for the week of May 17, 2026.

The week peaked with The Late Show‘s Thursday night series finale, which drew 9.12 million total viewers and 1.46 million adults 18–49, dwarfing the rest of the late-night field. (Jimmy Kimmel Live!, aired repeats on Thursday and Friday, while NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon aired a repeat Thursday and shifted its final original episode of the week to Friday.)

For the full week, Kimmel averaged 1.80 million total viewers (+43 percent vs a week earlier) and 193,000 adults 18–49 (+63 percent) across three original episodes and two repeats. Fallon averaged 1.33 million total viewers (+5 percent) and 264,000 adults 18–49 (+28 percent) across four original episodes and one repeat.

Friday brought the debut of Colbert’s 11:35 CBS replacement, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, which shifted up an hour from its previous 12:35 a.m. slot. Its first half-hour averaged 1.17 million total viewers and 116,000 adults 18–49, while a second episode at 12:05 a.m. averaged 698,000 total viewers and 64,000 adults 18–49.

CBS’ new 12:35 a.m. entry, Funny You Should Ask, averaged 529,000 total viewers and 57,000 adults 18–49 in its first half-hour, followed by 430,000 total viewers and 51,000 adults 18–49 at 1:05 a.m. Because both shows premiered in their new time periods Friday, no week-to-week comparisons are available.

NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, which aired repeats all week, averaged 751,000 total viewers (–18 percent) and 125,000 adults 18–49 (–15 percent). ABC’s Nightline averaged 851,000 total viewers (+1 percent) and 80,000 adults 18–49 (+9 percent).

Switching to cable, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show averaged 865,000 total viewers (–18 percent) and 165,000 adults 18–49 (–29 percent) across four original episodes.

On Fox News, Gutfeld! averaged 3.02 million total viewers (+5 percent) and 193,000 adults 18–49 (+6 percent) across five original episodes.

Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live averaged 361,000 total viewers (+17 percent) and 100,000 adults 18–49 (–2 percent).

Complete ratings charts for the week of May 17, 2026, follow below.

Note: Time period listed is the most common airtime for each show.

Live+ 3 Ratings — In the Demo (P18-49)

Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.