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First on LateNighter: James Corden’s return to late night did not exactly arrive with World Cup-sized ratings. But given the circumstances, it wasn’t a faceplant, either.
According to Nielsen Live+Same Day data, Thursday’s premiere of FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours with James Corden averaged 418,000 total viewers and 110,000 adults 18–49 across its midnight hour on FOX.
To compare Corden’s performance to the rest of broadcast late night, LateNighter looked at the same midnight-to-1 a.m. ET window on ABC, NBC, and CBS. ABC’s hour was split between Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Nightline, NBC’s between The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and CBS’ between two episodes of Comics Unleashed followed by Funny You Should Ask.
On that basis, FOX trailed the same-hour competition in total viewers: ABC averaged 1.564 million viewers, NBC averaged 930,000, and CBS averaged 533,000.
The demo picture was less bleak. After Hours averaged 110,000 adults 18–49, topping CBS’ 64,000 and coming within range of NBC’s 119,000. ABC led the hour in the demo with 320,000 adults 18–49.
In other words: not a breakout, but not a total whiff either. Airing six hours after FOX’s coverage of the tournament’s opening match ended, with little promotion beyond a few passing on-air mentions that day, After Hours was never likely to outdraw ABC and NBC’s entrenched late-night lineups. But for a sports-adjacent pop-up show airing after midnight without any real lead-in, finishing just behind NBC in adults 18–49 and ahead of CBS in the demo qualifies as something short of embarrassing.
Corden’s premiere featured Mila Kunis, who appeared on the first episode of his CBS Late Late Show, and a pre-taped bit with the U.S. men’s national team. The show is set to air several nights a week on FOX through July 15, live at midnight ET and on tape delay in other time zones.
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Ratings Data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
