Hudson Williams’ late-night debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last Wednesday night delivered a huge digital payoff, generating 45 million views across the show’s social and digital platforms within just two days, according to NBC.
Williams stars in Heated Rivalry, the modestly budgeted Canadian drama centered on rival professional hockey players in a secret romance that has become a surprise hit for HBO Max. The speed of the show’s breakout apparently caught both Jimmy Fallon and his talent bookers off guard.
“We booked Hudson probably six weeks ago when the show had some buzz, but it wasn’t the biggest thing on everyone’s minds,” Fallon told Entertainment Weekly late last week.
As the series surged, so did interest in Williams, culminating in crowds gathering to greet the young star outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza—and what Fallon described as “one of the hottest audiences we’ve ever had.” He added that he would “put it up there with BTS or Harry Styles,” saying, “I mean, they went bonkers.”
Much of the online engagement centered on a segment in which Williams taught Fallon a hockey stretching exercise from the series. Fallon later said he was not briefed on the specifics of the stretch in advance, allowing the moment to unfold organically on air.
Williams’ visit fits a familiar pattern for The Tonight Show, which for years has cultivated highly mobilized fanbases. That approach has paid dividends, including—most recently—a run of appearances by the stars of Stranger Things and Taylor Swift’s decision to make Fallon her first late-night stop in support of her new album.
While Swift’s October appearance led Fallon to a season-to-date Nielsen ratings record, Williams’ impact was more modest—but still notable—with The Tonight Show’s total linear audience jumping nearly 50% from the night before to a total of 1.26 million, per Nielsen Live+Same Day data.
Predictably, the increase was more marked among viewers in the 18–49 demo, which increased 78% night-over-night to 192,000. Both numbers are sure to grow as delayed viewing data comes in.
The question now is whether Seth Meyers will see a similar boost from Williams’ Heated Rivalry co-star Connor Storrie, who’s set to make his own late-night debut tonight (Monday, Jan. 12) on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
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in the End, Jimmy will be the last Jimmy standing. Congratulations and best wishes.
Lightweight Fallon shouldn’t even be compared to Kimmel – or Colbert.
You fucking wish! Fallon’s the worst late night host, ever! He wasn’t deserving of the host slot that got taken from Conan!