July Ratings: Kimmel Guest Hosts Keep ABC No. 1 as Fallon Gains

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After June’s record-setting highs, late night came back down to earth in July, with the annual summer slowdown very much in effect.

Jimmy Kimmel, fresh off the best ratings month his show’s 23-year history began his annual summer vacation, leaving guest hosts Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, and Colman Domingo to hold down the fort.

According to Nielsen Live+7 ratings data, Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 1.8 million viewers across 12 first-run episodes in July, down 43% from its June average of 3.15 million. The show averaged 208,000 adults 18–49, a 59% month-over-month decline.

Even with Kimmel away, ABC’s late-night show remained No. 1 among the 11:35 p.m. broadcast programs in both total viewers and the demo.

NBC appeared to be the primary beneficiary of Kimmel’s absence. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon averaged 1.56 million viewers in July, up 6% from June and its best showing relative to the competition in recent memory. Fallon averaged 181,000 adults 18–49, down 7% month-over-month.

CBS, meanwhile, spent July in rerun mode. Both nightly half-hours of Byron Allen’s Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask aired repeats throughout the month.

The 11:35 p.m. edition of Comics Unleashed averaged 784,000 total viewers, down 2% from June (when the show aired new episodes), and 88,000 adults 18–49, down 1%. Its 12:05 a.m. second half-hour averaged 552,000 total viewers, up 1%, and 58,000 demo viewers, down 13%.

At 12:35 a.m., Funny You Should Ask averaged 475,000 total viewers, up 3%, and 57,000 adults 18–49, down 5%. Its 1:05 a.m. half-hour averaged 424,000 viewers, up 4%, and 52,000 adults 18–49, down 2%.

James Corden’s World Cup-adjacent Fox late-night series, FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours with James Corden, aired its final batch of episodes in July. Across 13 first-run telecasts, the show averaged 711,000 total viewers, up 13% from June, while holding nearly steady in the demo at 200,000 adults 18–49, down 1%.

NBC also gained ground after midnight. Late Night with Seth Meyers averaged 1.02 million total viewers in July, up 5% from June, and 115,000 adults 18–49, down 7%.

That was enough for Meyers to move ahead of ABC’s Nightline in both measures after trailing the news program in June. Nightline averaged 840,000 total viewers, down 21%, and 90,000 adults 18–49, down 45%.

On cable, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show averaged 1.11 million total viewers in July, down 9% from June, and 207,000 adults 18–49, down 15%.

Fox News’s Gutfeld!, which airs at 10 p.m. ET, averaged 2.92 million total viewers, up 1% month-over-month. It averaged 170,000 adults 18–49, down 9%.

One show that escaped the July slowdown was Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live. Andy Cohen’s 10 p.m. series averaged 438,000 total viewers, up 51% from June, and 130,000 adults 18–49, up 63%.

Complete ratings charts for July 2026 follow below.

Note: Monthly ratings averages include only first-run episodes, except in time periods where no first-run episodes aired. Time period listed is the most common airtime for each show.

Live+ 7 Ratings — All Viewers (P2+)

Live+ 7 Ratings — In the Demo (P18-49)

Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.