Note: LateNighter generally posts late night ratings on a two (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.
All three 11:35 p.m. and CBS/NBC’s 12:37 a.m. offerings aired repeats on Monday, Feb. 19, but that doesn’t mean the entire late night landscape was dark.
The highlight of Monday in late night was Jon Stewart’s second episode as weekly Daily Show host. According to Nielsen live plus same day data for Feb. 19, Stewart’s second week back at the anchor desk drew 1,260,000 million total viewers and 224,000 P18-49 viewers. That’s a +35% gain in total viewers, but a -4% decline in demo viewers from his Monday return on Feb. 12. Stewart’s return episode aired across Paramount-owned cable entertainment networks, whereas this past Monday’s episode aired exclusively on Comedy Central, the show’s home network.
For reference, prior to the writers’ strike in May, rotating guest hosts averaged 369,000 total viewers per show; when The Daily Show resumed in mid-October after writers’ strike concluded, that average fell to roughly 300,000 viewers on average.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! presented its Feb. 12 episode, CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert presented its Feb. 6 episode, and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon presented its Jan. 25 episode this past Monday. Of the 11:35 p.m. repeats, CBS averaged the most total viewers (1,391,000) and most P18-49 viewers (196,000).
ABC’s half-hour news show Nightline was also new on Feb. 19, although it has been coded as a “Special” — meaning the episode’s ratings won’t be counted towards the program’s year/season averages. CBS’ After Midnight and NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers presented repeats of their respective Feb. 1 episodes.
Nightline averaged 684,000 total viewers and 74,000 P18-49 viewers. After Midnight averaged 579,000 total viewers and 118,000 P18-49 viewers, while Late Night averaged 611,000 total viewers and 94,000 P18-49 viewers at 12:37 a.m.
Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo only)
| Network | Show Name | Total Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 PM | |||
| CC | The Daily Show | 224,000 | 2.74 |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (R) | 127,000 | 1.98 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R) | 196,000 | 3.06 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (R) | 149,000 | 2.36 |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| ABC | Nightline (S) | 74,000 | 1.57 |
| CBS | After Midnight (R) | 118,000 | 2.69 |
| NBC | Late Night With Seth Meyers (R) | 94,000 | 2.10 |
(R) = Repeat; (S) = Special
Live+SD ratings (All Viewers 2+)
| Network | Show Name | Total Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 PM | |||
| CC | The Daily Show | 1,260,000 | 3.15 |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (R) | 1,190,000 | 3.92 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R) | 1,391,000 | 4.60 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (R) | 1,011,000 | 3.40 |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| ABC | Nightline (S) | 684,000 | 3.12 |
| CBS | After Midnight (R) | 579,000 | 2.85 |
| NBC | Late Night With Seth Meyers (R) | 611,000 | 2.97 |
(R) = Repeat; (S) = Special
