First on LateNighter: Late night’s post-Colbert map is still being drawn, but ratings numbers for the first real night of late night’s new normal put Jimmy Kimmel well out in front.
For the first time since May 20—the night before Stephen Colbert signed off from The Late Show—both Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon were back with new episodes Monday, June 1.
That made Monday Nielsen’s first apples-to-apples ratings read on the newly reshuffled 11:35 p.m. landscape, with CBS now airing Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen in Colbert’s old time period.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Kimmel dominated the hour with an average 2.185 million total viewers and 295,000 viewers in the 18-49 demographic. That’s more viewers for Jimmy Kimmel Live! across both key ratings measurements than both the Tonight Show and Comics Unleashed combined. (See each show’s numbers at the bottom of this post.)
Compared to the same night one year ago—Monday, June 2, 2025—Kimmel was up 53% in total viewers and up 178% among adults 18-49.
Fallon also saw year-over-year growth, with The Tonight Show up 10% in total viewers and 14% in the demo.
CBS, meanwhile, saw a steep drop-off from its year-ago performance. Comics Unleashed was down 64% in total viewers and down 46% among adults 18-49 compared to The Late Show’s numbers the same night last year, when Colbert won the timeslot.
There are plenty of caveats. One night is not a trend, and live-plus-same-day ratings are only the first snapshot. Viewership numbers for all three shows will increase once live-plus-three-day data is factored in later this week.
And while linear viewing remains the place where the networks make most of their advertising revenue, it no longer captures the totality of late night’s cultural influence, with clips on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok regularly drawing views in the millions.
Monday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! featured Olivia Wilde, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and a performance by Death Cab for Cutie. Fallon welcomed Tina Fey, Marlon Wayans, and Jazz Chisholm Jr., with a performance from Schmigadoon! CBS’ Comics Unleashed featured comics LouLou Gonzalez, Dwayne Perkins, Samson Crouppen, and Dylan Mandlsohn.
Complete ratings charts for Monday June 1, 2026 follow below:
Live+SD ratings (All Viewers 2+)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Yr Ago (6/2/25) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † | 6.42 | 2,854 | -9% |
| Watch What Happens Live (BRAVO) * Aired at 9:15 PM this day | 0.84 | 409 | +8% |
| 11:00 PM | |||
| The Daily Show (COM) * | 1.88 | 612 | +5% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) | 8.3 | 2,185 | +53% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) | 5.04 | 1,301 | +10% |
| Comics Unleashed (CBS) 1-hr avg, Repeat | 2.46 | 628 | -65%** |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| Nightline (ABC) | 4.47 | 819 | +13% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) | 4.71 | 790 | -1% |
| Funny You Should Ask (CBS) 1-hr avg, Repeat | 2.20 | 419 | -35%** |
Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Yr Ago (6/2/25) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † | 2.35 | 185 | -20% |
| Watch What Happens Live (BRAVO) * Aired at 9:15 PM this day | 1.21 | 105 | +6% |
| 11:00 PM | |||
| The Daily Show (COM) * | 1.97 | 118 | -38% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) | 5.96 | 295 | +178% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) | 3.99 | 194 | +14% |
|
Comics Unleashed
1-hr avg, 2 Repeats | 1.70 | 82 | -46% |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| Nightline (ABC) | 2.29 | 80 | +100% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) | 2.76 | 91 | -27% |
| Funny You Should Ask (CBS) ** 1-hr avg, 2 repeats | 1.14 | 38 | -36% |
Ratings Data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
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Notice how they had to use YEARLY stats instead of the usual WEEKLY one. So where did Colbert’s 2.4 million go? Wouldn’t it be evenly divided between Kimmel and Fallon?
Nope
That’s now how a trioply and now a duopoly works. It’s why letterman retired the year after Leno did. He didn’t assume his former rival’s audience.
Instead he just suffered more attrition from dying old people, who are the only viewers of this obsolete format.
Kimmel and Fallon NEEDED Colbert as an anchor in the same way the seafood restaurant downtown needed the Hard Rock Cafe next door even though they are direct rivals.
So now you’ll see Kimmel hemorrhaging viewers even faster. Then in the fall he will announce HE decided to retire rather than being unsigned last 2027.
Then Fallon and Meyers will quietly go out the door in 2028.
Have you ever considered seeing a psychiatrist to treat what the fuck is wrong with you, child?
Looks like less than one-third of Colbert’s late April 2026 audience switched to Kimmel on June 1
The remaining two-thirds stuck with Byron Allen, Jimmy Fallon, other TV programs or didn’t watch TV at all at 11:35p ET/10:35p CT
Not very good for Kimmel to get only 1/3 of Colbert’s audience, and probably less once they realize Kimmel is a misogynistic racist – just look at his blackface and doing skits where he murders Latina women.
Imagine if even just 10% of Colbert’s left-wing audience becomes de-brainwashed and become conservatives.
400K switching from Democrats to Republicans is a 800K swing, which does wonders during national elections.
“Not very good for Kimmel to get only 1/3 of Colbert’s audience, and probably less once they realize Kimmel is a misogynistic racist – just look at his blackface and doing skits where he murders Latina women.“
He’s already apologized MANY TIMES for that; hell, his recent Vulture interview touches on that, and now you keep weaponizing his past offenses that he already acknowledged and never did again.
Also, funny you’re gonna ignore Byron’s early results now that he has the 11:35 slot. Aren’t you gonna defend him saying his show is much better, blah, blah, Colbert sucks???
Byron Allen was already better than Colbert. He’s a self made billionaire that replaced a mediocre white male like Colbert. Yay for Civil Rights!
Kimmel may have apologized, but people have the right not to accept the so-called apology. And they have every right to do so, and not watching Kimmel is the best way to punish him.
Besides, far better people have apologized for past antics and have still been cancelled or have their careers ruined….the same should happen to racist sexist lying Kimmel.
So far, Kimmel is getting less than one-third of Colbert’s audience and it may it decrease further.
But then again you’ve proven to be an extremely unstable person that needs help, instead of trolling on sites like this!
Yeah, stop trolling Corrie….gawd you suck, but not as racist as KKK Canadian here from Ottawa
“So where did Colbert’s 2.4 million go? Wouldn’t it be evenly divided between Kimmel and Fallon?“
Easy answer: Fallon is not impactful as Kimmel when it comes to monologues, no to mention Kimmel did book a few guests who were frequent on the Late Show so they did lean on knowing that the CBS/Late Show exodus would migrate to his show.
Also… Kimmel is just funnier than Fallon, so clearly the writing was on the wall where Colbert’s viewers would flock more to.
Also, there’s also Seth, John and the Daily Show, who also benefitted a snagged a few fans post-Late Show~
I think it’s too soon to call the end of late night and just declare everyone is gone in the next few years; the future is uncertain but it’s not over yet. Keep on doomin’, troll.
TLDR; Fallon sucks, Kimmel is benefitting the most, viewers have other options and late night is currently in limbo but still in the limelight~
Looking at the late night landscape should involve looking at shows of the format, in the relevant time slots. CBS cares no more about the ratings for Byron Allen than they care about ratings for an infomercial. They sold the time and get fixed revenue. Byron Allen merely took a show that was not shown in the late night time slot, moved it to that time slot for a fixed cost, and his ratings increased substantially. That should help him increase advertising revenue.
Byron Allen may have gotten some of the traditional late night audience as opposed to his regular viewers, so he’s not irrelevant here. But the bulk of the conversation should be about the remaining talk shows, about Colbert’s cancellation, and things relevant to the ratings of true late night shows. CBS is not winning or losing anything based on Byron Allen’s ratings.
They should care, that’s will affect the ratings of the rest of their programming, including in the early morning.
Meh…..majority of revenue comhttps://latenighter.com/news/ratings/kimmel-leads-first-post-colbert-ratings-snapshot/#respondes from subscribers and retransmission fees.
If you can find a way to stop cord cutting, please let the whole world know.