Note: LateNighter generally posts late night weekly live-plus-seven quarterly ratings on a seven (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.
Final Q1 2024 Nielsen data has arrived, and a familiar offering has held steady at the top of the late-night ratings heap: CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Excluding repeats, The Late Show averaged 2,586,000 total viewers and 288,000 P18-49 viewers in the opening quarter of 2024, per Nielsen live-plus-seven-day data. That’s No. 1 among all late-night shows in those respective measurements. The Colbert-led offering shed -1% in total viewers but gained +2% in P18-49 viewers from the previous quarter (Q4 2023), but dropped -9% in total viewers and -11% in P18-49 viewers from Q1 2023; as late-night seemingly follows the linear TV-wide trend of year-over-year ratings decline.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! was the second most-watched 11:35 p.m. offering in Q1, and No. 3 in the P18-49 measurement. Excluding repeats, the program averaged 1,720,000 total viewers and 198,000 P18-49 viewers in Q1 ’24, per Nielsen live-plus-seven data. That’s -9% in total viewers and -28% in P18-49 viewers from Q4 ’23 (when the show received a weekly bump from a Monday Night Football lead-in). JKL also -2% in total viewers and -16% in P18-49 viewers from the year-ago quarter.
NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon averaged 229,000 P18-49 viewers and 1,431,000 total viewers at 11:35 p.m. in Q1, second and third, respectively. The Tonight Show’s 229,000 P18-49 viewer average is -6% from the previous quarter and -19% from the year-ago quarter, whereas its 1,431,000 total viewer average is up +1% from the previous quarter, and -9% from the year-ago quarter. It is also worth noting that The Tonight Show aired 16 more original episodes than The Late Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Q1.
Moving ahead to 12:35 a.m., NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers and the landscape’s newest offering from CBS, After Midnight, split first place in Q1. Late Night averaged the most total viewers in Q1 with 971,000, whereas After Midnight averaged a timeslot-high 169,000 P18-49 viewers. Late Night gained +0.4% in total viewers from the previous quarter, and +1% from the year-ago quarter. The story wasn’t quite as positive when it came to P18-49 viewers, as the show shed -10% from the prior quarter and -19% from the year-ago quarter.
ABC News’ half-hour offering Nightline also saw linear viewership losses in Q1 ’24. Its 874,000 total viewer average at 12:37 a.m. is -10% from the previous quarter, and -6% from the year-ago quarter, whereas its 120,000 P18-49 average in Q1 is -25% from the previous quarter and -19% from the year-ago quarter.
Comedy Central’s longest-running show, The Daily Show, experienced a standout quarter, highlighted by the February 2024 return of Jon Stewart. Stewart’s weekly shows had a halo effect on the full week, not just Mondays. The Daily Show averaged 1,166,000 total viewers and 218,000 P18-49 viewers in Q1 ’24. That’s +133% in total viewers and +77% in P18-49 viewers from the previous quarter, as well as +99% in total viewers and +68% in P18-49 viewers from Q1 of 2023.
*With the exception of The Daily Show, each of these late night offerings air five nights a week. Only original airings are included in the averages below. Repeats are excluded.
Live+ 7 ratings (18-49 demo)
| Network | Show Name / (# of Original Telecasts) | Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 PM | |||
| CC | The Daily Show (24) | 218,000 | 2.61 |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (38) | 198,000 | 2.93 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (38) | 288,000 | 4.27 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (54) | 229,000 | 3.31 |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| ABC | Nightline (62) | 120,000 | 2.23 |
| CBS | After Midnight (33) | 169,000 | 3.48 |
| NBC | Late Night With Seth Meyers (38) | 151,000 | 3.05 |
*Excluding repeats
Live+7 ratings (Viewers 2+)
| Network | Show Name / (# of Original Telecasts) | Total Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 PM | |||
| CC | The Daily Show (24) | 1,166,000 | 2.92 |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (38) | 1,720,000 | 5.54 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (38) | 2,586,000 | 8.36 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (54) | 1,431,000 | 4.54 |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| ABC | Nightline (62) | 874,000 | 3.70 |
| CBS | After Midnight (33) | 751,000 | 3.51 |
| NBC | Late Night With Seth Meyers (38) | 971,000 | 4.45 |
*Excluding repeats
Why is t Gutfeld on this list? He is actually number 1!
Gutfeld blows them all away.
Gutfield is considered prime time, not late night. He was previously on at 11 in only one time zone, and now is 10 pm even in that time zone.
Of course, he and Fox News distort that into “king of late night,” but the rules of TV programming work differently in the real world.
Since launch, Gutfeld’s nightly show has increased in audience by 47 percent in total viewership, the network said, noting the host regularly out-rates other late night shows on broadcast channels, pulling an average of 2.2 million viewers per night.Apr 4, 2024
How can Seth Myers even have a rating. I have never known a person to be so un-funny. I doubt he can even be used as a sleep aid because he is so irritating to listen to.
Late night shows for the woke.
Gutfeld likely did better than these dancing monkeys… but no mention. and yes, The Daily Show, aka, Trump Derangement Syndrome, is only half watchable on Monday when hosted by Stewart. No one watches this crap any more…