Note: LateNighter generally posts late night daily ratings on a two (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.
Late night marked the unofficial end of summer Monday night, and as one might expect from a rerun-filled last night of a long holiday weekend, viewership levels were lower than usual.
Per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was the night’s biggest winner, drawing 1,383,000 total viewers for a encore airing of its August 21st episode featuring guests Pete Buttigieg and Chance the Rapper. That was actually an 15% increase in viewers for the show week-over-week. Colbert’s 11:35 p.m. competitors did not see similar increases, with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live! essentially neck-and-neck at 828,000 and 827,000 viewers, respectively. Compared to last Monday, that was -9% for Fallon and -11% for Kimmel.
Colbert also ruled the roost among viewers in the advertiser coveted 18-49 demographic, drawing 147,000 viewers, an impressive 34% increase week over week. Fallon took second place at 111,000 viewers with a repeat of his July 26th episode featuring guests Nick Jonas, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, and Ice Spice, down 12% over last Monday. Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which aired a repeat of its Jeff Goldblum-hosted August 12th episode with guests Mark Wahlberg, Rob Delaney and Grace Bowers, came in third among younger viewers, with a total of 97,000, down 27% week over week.
Late Night with Seth Meyers and After Midnight split top honors at 12:35 a.m. Monday, with Meyers drawing the most total viewers (at 549,000, down -39% vs last Monday) and After Midnight drawing more viewers aged 18-49 (at 75,000, up a whopping 53% week over week). Meyers aired a repeat of its August 22nd episode featuring guests Amy Poehler and Fred Armisen, while After Midnight reaired its July 25th episode with guest panelists Pete Holmes, Maria Bamford, and Vinny Thomas.
Monday’s complete ratings charts follow below. (Note that Comedy Central did not air The Daily Show on Monday, September 2.)
Live+SD ratings (All Viewers 2+)
| Network | Show Name | Total Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (R, 8/12/24) | 827,000 | 3.07 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R, 8/21/24) | 1,383,000 | 5.17 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (R, 7/26/24) | 828,000 | 3.15 |
| 12:35 AM | |||
| ABC | *Nightline | 534,000 | 2.64 |
| CBS | After Midnight (R, 7/25/24) | 475,000 | 2.56 |
| NBC | Late Night with Seth Meyers (R, 8/22/24) | 549,000 | 2.93 |
(R) = Rebroadcast
Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo only)
| Network | Show Name | Viewers | % Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:35 PM | |||
| ABC | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (R, 8/12/24 ) | 97,000 | 1.74 |
| CBS | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R, 8/21/24) | 147,000 | 2.65 |
| NBC | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (R, 7/26/24) | 111,000 | 2.02 |
| 12:35 AM | |||
| ABC | *Nightline | 62,000 | 1.40 |
| CBS | After Midnight (R, 7/25/24) | 75,000 | 1.84 |
| NBC | Late Night with Seth Meyers (R, 8/22/24) | 71,000 | 1.72 |
(R) = Rebroadcast
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
When will the Tuesday and Wednesday night ratings be posted?
Neilsen has been on a three business day delay this week due to the long weekend. Things should be back to normal next week. Tues went up Fri and hopefully we’ll have both Weds and Thurs ratings on Monday.