Stephen Colbert will be taking his act to Sunday night later this month when he hosts a special episode of The Late Show following the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Jan. 26.
The broadcast will mark the first time Colbert’s Late Show has aired after an AFC Championship Game, but not its first post-football Sunday Night episode, as the show has followed The Super Bowl on CBS four times—in 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024.
Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon have both benefited from post-NFL ratings spikes in recent months, with Kimmel regularly airing after Monday Night Football, and Fallon staging a special episode following Sunday Night Football in mid-November.
While neither were enough to knock Colbert off his perch as the top-rated 11:35pm show, Kimmel’s MNF lead-in contributed to a 40% ratings increase for the ABC late night show in the fourh quarter of 2024.
The Late Show‘s Jan 26th episode is scheduled to air at 11:35pm ET/8:35 pm PT. It will follow the series premiere of CBS’ new medical mystery series Watson, starring Morris Chestnut. Colbert’s guests that night have yet to be announced.
