Late Night Ratings: Thursday, March 21, 2024

Note: LateNighter generally posts late night daily ratings on a two (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon split first place at 11:35 p.m. this past Thursday, while CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was delayed to 1:06 a.m. ET due to live NCAA March Madness coverage.

Per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, NBC’s The Tonight Show averaged 1,558,000 total viewers and 225,000 P18-49 viewers on Thursday, March 21, 2024. That’s up +8 and +2%, respectively, from the day before (Wednesday, March 20, 2024), +18% and +4%, respectively, from the previous Thursday broadcast (March 14, 2024).

Gisele Bündchen, Wayne Brady, and Mary Beth Barone were Fallon’s guests on the Thursday, March 21 edition of Tonight Show.

With Colbert dark this week, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! marked its fourth consecutive day of averaging the most total viewers on late night. The program averaged 1,770,000 total viewers and 213,000 P18-49 viewers this past Thursday at 11:35 p.m. That’s up +14% and +18%, respectively, from the day before, but -4% and -7%, respectively from the from the prior Thursday episode.

Regina King, William Shatner, and Dasha were Kimmel’s guests this past Thursday, March 21.

CBS’ The Late Show aired a rerun of its Feb. 13, 2024 episode this past Thursday at 1:06 a.m. ET. The program was pushed back due to a late finish for CBS’ first night of 2024 NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage. The Feb. 13 Late Show dropped by -16% in total viewers but gained +68% in P18-49 viewers from the previous night’s repeat. The college basketball lead-in provided the Late Show repeat with a nice boost in younger viewers.

Hitting fast-forward, ABC News’ Nightline aired an original episode this past Thursday at 12:37 a.m., which averaged 830,000 total viewers and 136,000 P18-49 viewers. That’s +11% and +53% in P18-49 viewers from the previous night’s episode, but -15% in total viewers and -16% in P18-49 viewers from the previous Thursday episode.

CBS’ After Midnight and NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers are dark this week and aired repeats of their Jan. 30, 2024 and Jan. 24 2024 episodes, respectively, this past Thursday, March 21. Per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Late Night averaged 799,000 total viewers and 128,000 P18-49 viewers on Thursday at 12:37 a.m. ET. That’s down -6% and -9% , respectively, from the previous night’s repeat. CBS did not submit Nielsen viewer data for Thursday’s airing of After Midnight, which did not air until around 2 a.m. ET.

The Daily Show was off this past week, and the network re-aired four of Jon Stewart’s Monday shows at 11 p.m. through Thursday. Thursday’s re-air of The Daily Show’s March 11, 2024 episode averaged just 165,000 total viewers and 47,000 P18-49 viewers at 11 p.m., per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data. That’s down -36% and -16%, respectively, from the previous night’s repeat (Feb. 26 episode).

Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo only)

Network	Show Name	Viewers	% Share
11:00 PM
CC	The Daily Show (R, 3/11/24)	46,000	0.47
11:35 PM
ABC	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	213,000	2.63
CBS	The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R,2/13/24 )	311,000	6.81
NBC	The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon	225,000	2.80
12:37 AM
ABC	Nightline (1/2 hour)	136,000	2.28
CBS	After Midnight (R, 1/30/24)	n/a	n/a
NBC	Late Night With Seth Meyers (R, 1/24/24 )	128,000	2.36

(R) = Repeat

Live+SD ratings (All Viewers 2+)

Network	Show Name	Total Viewers	% Share
11:00 PM
CC	The Daily Show (R, 3/11/24 )	165,000	0.39
11:35 PM
ABC	Jimmy Kimmel Live!	1,770,000	5.22
CBS	The Late Show With Stephen Colbert (R,2/13/24 )	1,006,000	5.18
NBC	The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon	1,558,000	4.62
12:37 AM
ABC	Nightline (1/2 hour)	830,000	3.32
CBS	After Midnight ( R, 1/30/24)	n/a	n/a
NBC	Late Night With Seth Meyers (R, 1/24/24)	799,000	3.49