Late Night Ratings: Week of Feb. 12, 2024

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

Basking in the glow of the network’s highly-rated Super Bowl telecast, CBS’ late night slate won the week of Feb. 12, 2024 in various audience measurements. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert dominated the 11:35 p.m. slot (and late night more generally), both in Total Viewers and in P18-49, while CBS’ new entrant After Midnight, hosted by Taylor Tomlinson, took first place in the later timeslot among P18-49.

The Late Show averaged 2,098,000 total viewers and 248,000 P18-49 viewers at 11:35 p.m., while After Midnight averaged 690,000 total viewers and 118,000 P18-49 viewers at 12:37 p.m. this past week.

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon split second place at 11:35 p.m. Kimmel averaged the second-most total viewers (1,451,000), while Fallon averaged the second-most P18-49 viewers in the timeslot (213,000).

ABC’s Nightline averaged the most total viewers at 12:37 a.m. this past week (808,000), followed by NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers and After Midnight. However, Nightline finished third behind After Midnight and Late Night in P18-49 viewing.

How did each show’s weekly performance compare against the week prior? In Total Viewers, the 11:35 p.m. offerings from ABC, CBS and NBC were +12% , -7% and -2%, respectively, from the week before (starting Feb. 5). In P18-49, the 11:35 p.m. ABC, CBS, and NBC offerings were -11%, -31%, and +7%, respectively, from the week before.

ABC’s, CBS and NBC’s 12:37 a.m. shows were +9%, -22% and -3% in total viewers, respectively, from the week prior. Among P18-49, each offering shed viewers from the week prior, with ABC dropping -8%, CBS -39% and NBC -9%.

Why did CBS, despite its wins, see such an extreme week-to-week drop-off? There was a special post-Super Bowl edition of The Late Show that aired on Sunday, Feb. 11, and drew an abnormally-large audience. That skews the week-to-week trend for CBS.

The story of the week in late night was Jon Stewart’s return to the Daily Show anchor desk on Monday, Feb. 12. Stewart’s return as part-time Daily Show host (he’ll front Mondays through the 2024 Presidential Election) brought Comedy Central its largest audience in several years; and those numbers only grew in Stewart’s second episode, which aired this past Monday, Feb. 19.

Stewart’s return on Mondays is providing the show with a bump on Tuesdays through Thursdays. For the week of Feb. 12, The Daily Show averaged 615,000 total viewers and 146,000 P18-49, per live-plus-same-day data from Nielsen. That’s up substantially from the program’s year to date average.

*With the exception of The Daily Show, each of these late night offerings aired on five days last week – the week of Feb. 12. However, ratings for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, After Midnight and Late Night with Seth Meyers are based on four days of broadcasts (Monday-Thursday) since each aired a repeat on Friday. The Tonight Show and Nightline’s ratings are based on five days of broadcasts (Monday-Friday), as both shows aired original episodes on all five days.

Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo)

Live+SD ratings (Viewers 2+)