Note: LateNighter generally posts late night ratings on a two (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.
NBC swept the late night daypart on Friday, March 15, 2024.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon was the No. 1 across all of late-night on Friday, both in total viewers and in P18-49, while Late Night with Seth Meyers won 12:37 a.m. slot in the aforementioned measurements.
Unlike its timeslot rivals, The Tonight Show aired a new episode at 11:35 p.m. on March 15, which averaged 1,558,000 total viewers and 204,000 P18-49 viewers. That’s up +7% in total viewers but down -29% in P18-49 viewers from the prior Friday broadcast (March 8, 2024).
Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Kimbal Musk were Fallon’s Tonight Show guests on Friday, March 15.
CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert aired a repeat of its March 4, 2024 episode—featuring RuPaul and Yuval Noah Harari—this past Friday. The airing averaged 1,483,000 total viewers and 179,000 P18-49 viewers at 11:35 p.m. That represents a -2% decline in total viewers and a -2% decline in P18-49 viewers versus the previous Friday, when the show aired a repeat of its Feb. 24 episode.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! presented a rerun of its March 11, 2024 (day after Oscars) episode this past Friday, which featured guests Dwayne Johnson, Robert De Niro, and Justin Timberlake. The March 15 airing averaged 1,142,000 total viewers and 162,000 P18-49 viewers at 11:35 p.m. ABC did not submit viewer data for the previous Friday’s airing of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which was a repeat of the show’s Feb. 22, 2024 episode.
Hitting fast-forward to 12:35 timeslot, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers took first place, despite airing a rerun. Late Night’s presentation of its Feb. 29 episode (featuring Jamie Dornan and Andy Samberg) averaged 767,000 total viewers and 116,000 P18-49 viewers on Friday at 12:37 a.m., per live-plus-same-day data. That represents a -2% decline in total viewers, but a -38% drop-off in P18-49 viewers from the previous Friday, when the show aired a repeat of its Feb. 28, 2024 episode.
ABC’s news half-hour news offering Nightline took second place in total viewers but third in P18-49 viewers behind NBC and CBS. The Friday, March 15, 2024 edition of Nightline averaged 675,000 total viewers and 64,000 P18-49 viewers, -18% and -27%, respectively, from the Friday before.
CBS’ After Midnight aired a repeat of its Feb. 14, 2024 episode this past Friday featuring Will Miles, Guilia Rozzi, Brian McElhaney, Nick Kocher, Anna Seregina and Chris Thayer. The repeat airing averaged 594,000 total viewers and 99,000 P18-49 from the P18-49 demo, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. That’s up +2% in total viewers and down -1% in P18-49 viewers from the Friday before, a repeat of the show’s Feb. 12 episode.
Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo)
| Network | Show Name | Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (R, 3/11/24 ) | 162,000 | 2.15 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R, 3/4/24) | 179,000 | 2.32 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | 204,000 | 2.66 |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| ABC | Nightline | 64,000 | 1.06 |
| CBS | After Midnight (R, 2/14/24) | 99,000 | 1.75 |
| NBC | Late Night With Seth Meyers (R, 2/29/24) | 116,000 | 2.05 |
© The Nielsen Company, used under license.
(R) = Repeat
Live+SD ratings (Viewers 2+)
| Network | Show Name | Total Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (R, 3/11/24 ) | 1,142,000 | 3.41 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R, 3/4/24) | 1,483,000 | 4.35 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | 1,558,000 | 4.59 |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| ABC | Nightline | 675,000 | 2.62 |
| CBS | After Midnight (R, 2/14/24) | 594,000 | 2.48 |
| NBC | Late Night With Seth Meyers (R, 2/29/24) | 767,000 | 3.16 |
© The Nielsen Company, used under license.
(R) = Repeat
