April 2024 Late Night Ratings: Colbert Still #1; Kimmel, Meyers Gain Viewers

Note: With the exception of The Daily Show, each of these late night shows air five nights a week. *Data for new, first-run episodes is included below. Repeats are excluded.

After a terrific March, several late-night shows saw mixed ratings trends in April 2024. Still, there was one constant: CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert remains the top-rated program in late night.

According to live-plus-seven-day data for April 2024, Colbert’s Late Show averaged 2,577,000 total viewers with 292,000 P18-49 viewers for 11 new episodes. That’s -3% but +0.3%, respectively, from March. The year-over-year trend wasn’t as great, with The Late Show -6% in total viewers and -12% in P18-49 viewers from April 2023.

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon split second place at 11:35 p.m. this past month.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 1,858,000 total viewers with 208,000 P18-49 for 15 new episodes in April, per Nielsen live-plus-seven day. That’s up +1% and +3%, respectively, from the show’s March averages. Relative to its April 2023 performance, JKL gained +5% in total viewers but shed -12% in P18-49 viewers — as Americans under 50 continue to cut the cord.

Fallon’s Tonight Show was dark for half of April, and the show averaged 1,413,000 total viewers with 220,000 P18-49 for 10 new episodes, per Nielsen live-plus-seven. That’s -1% and -3%, respectively, from March; -5% and -19% versus April 2023.

Similar to The Tonight Show, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers was dark for half of the month. The 12:35 a.m. program averaged 1,022,000 total viewers and 148,000 P18-49 for eight episodes, per Nielsen live-plus-seven day data. That’s up +4% in total viewers, but -3% in P18-49 viewers, from March; +7%, but -15%, respectively, versus April 2023.

CBS’ After Midnight won 12:37 a.m. in the key 18-49 demo, averaging 165,000 viewers from the measurement and 712,000 total viewers for 11 episodes, according Nielsen live-plus-seven data. That’s -2% in total viewers but +4% in P18-49 viewers from March. After Midnight did not air in April 2023, having debuted this past January.

Fellow 12:37 a.m. slot offering, ABC’s Nightline, averaged 864,000 total viewers and 124,000 P18-49 viewers for 20 episodes, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data. That’s up +1% in total viewers and +11% in P18-49 from March, but -6% in total viewers and -19% in P18-49 viewers relative to April 2023.

Lastly, Comedy Central’s The Daily Show shed viewers from March, -10% in total viewers and -10% in P18-49 viewers. The return of Jon Stewart has provided the program as a whole with year-over-year viewership growth. The program’s 1,012,000 total viewers and 188,000 P18-49 viewers averages are up +49% and +45%, respectively, from its year-ago average in the respective measurements.

Live+7 ratings (18-49 Demo)

Live+7 ratings (Viewers 2+)