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With much of late night in repeats as the calendar edges toward Labor Day, Byron Allen’s two-hour CBS block is proving remarkably resilient, especially among younger viewers.
In fact, for the first time since taking over the CBS slot previously occupied by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Monday night’s 11:35 p.m. episode of Comics Unleashed beat both ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in the demo nationwide.
According to preliminary live-plus-same-day ratings for Monday, August 24, Comics Unleashed drew 161,000 adults 18–49. Kimmel—airing an original episode with guest host Jelly Roll—drew 158,000 adults 18–49 in its first half hour, while a repeat of The Tonight Show from the first week of August drew 154,000.
Allen’s CBS shows are in repeats themselves until September 21. But unlike most of their late-night competition, Comics Unleashed and Funny You Should Ask are designed to be evergreen, with nothing in any given episode tying it to the day it first aired. As we’ve previously noted, that’s made reruns far less costly ratings-wise for Allen than they are for more topical late-night shows.
Among total viewers, Comics Unleashed still finished third in the 11:35 half hour Monday, though by a considerably smaller margin than it typically faces when Kimmel and Fallon are behind their desks airing originals.
The week-to-week movement is striking. Compared with the same half hour last Monday, Comics Unleashed was up 14.5 percent in total viewers and 84.5 percent among adults 18–49.
By comparison, The Tonight Show’s full-hour average was down 11 percent in total viewers and 15 percent in the demo from the previous Monday. Jimmy Kimmel Live! with Jelly Roll was down 15 percent in total viewers and 42 percent among adults 18–49 from last Monday night, when Rosie O’Donnell kicked off her week behind Kimmel’s desk.
In raw numbers, the first-half-hour divergence is even clearer: Kimmel lost 93,000 adults 18–49 week over week and The Tonight Show lost 24,000, while Comics Unleashed added 71,000.
Allen’s Monday gains continued after midnight.
Funny You Should Ask, airing opposite a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers, delivered its second-best household performance since premiering in its new CBS late-night slot on May 22.
And for the first time, an episode of Funny You Should Ask beat Meyers in total viewers: the second half hour topped NBC’s competing half hour by 13 percent.
Perhaps most notable for CBS, the full two-hour block was up 13 percent among adults 18–34 and 1 percent among adults 18–49 compared with CBS’s August 2025 averages for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and After Midnight.
That doesn’t mean Allen’s block has suddenly become late night’s biggest draw. It hasn’t. But the deeper CBS gets into the summer—and the more its competitors lean on reruns—the more Allen’s low-cost, big-tent approach appears to be paying off.
Complete ratings charts for Monday August 24, 2026 follow below:
Live+SD ratings (All Viewers 2+)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Wk Ago (8/17/26) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † | 5.80 | 2,394 | +4% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) | 6.87 | 1,583 | -15% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Repeat | 4.70 | 1,068 | -11% |
| Comics Unleashed (CBS) Repeat | 3.58 | 879 | +14% |
| 12:05 AM | |||
| Comics Unleashed (CBS) Repeat | 3.09 | 607 | +11% |
| 12:35 AM | |||
| Funny You Should Ask (CBS) Repeat | 3.33 | 558 | +16% |
| Nightline (ABC) | 4.62 | 781 | -12% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) Repeat | 3.77 | 578 | -18% |
| 1:05 AM | |||
| Funny You Should Ask (CBS) Repeat | 3.66 | 509 | +31% |
Live+SD ratings (18-49 demo)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers 18–49 (000s) | Vs Wk Ago (8/17/26) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † | 2.06 | 146 | -25% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) | 3.02 | 125 | -43% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) Repeat | 3.22 | 132 | -15% |
| Comics Unleashed (CBS) Repeat | 3.55 | 155 | +85% |
| 12:05 AM | |||
| Comics Unleashed (CBS) Repeat | 1.93 | 70 | +32% |
| 12:35 AM | |||
| Funny You Should Ask (CBS) Repeat | 2.74 | 83 | +51% |
| Nightline (ABC) | 1.61 | 49 | -55% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) Repeat | 3.26 | 90 | +2% |
| 1:05 AM | |||
| Funny You Should Ask (CBS) Repeat | 2.37 | 59 | +18% |
Ratings Data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
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you did NOT beat Kimmel. you beat Jelly Roll.
Belly Roll still beat Jimmy Fallon. What is going on with Jimmy? Does he care anymore, or is he just too spread out working on other shows?
He’s on vacation, dumbass, so there are reruns for the next few weeks~ So, OF COURSE JKL had a bit of the upper hand with Jelly Roll, whom I might add, had the most roller-coaster guest host saga even more than Rosie’s, especially with his final monologue~
Corrie-Hate is more like it.
Doesn’t contribute anything positive here! Just insults people because they insult their MAGAt insensibilities! You’d almost feel sorry for it, if you didn’t have the urge to bitchslap this ugly bitch to Kingdom Come!
In all fairness, this week has been mostly dark, so CBS only gained this demographic due to almost no competitive broadcasting….and Jelly Roll.
This is not fully reflective of future fall season ratings once all late night shows return w/new episodes~
Also something, something “Gutfeld is not a late night show”; I’m tired of this show being labeled as late night when it airs 10pm~
“Gutfeld” IS a Late Night show. Conan aired in the same time slot and was considered a “Late Night Show.” Arsenio, Part 2 as well.
Conan was on at 11pm. Gutfeld is on at 10.
Conan was on at 10 Central time.
A win is a win. Byron won, as perplexing as it seems. The late night shows are delifing themselves with all of the reruns. When the chips are down, one has to show up and put in more effort. Not these guys. They do NOT have the Jay Leno work ethic.
You do realize Byron’s business model RELIES on his shows being rerun material, right? He’s no different than the other late night shows, only he does it WAAAAY more frequently for the past 20 years~
Also, thank gawd NONE of the recent hosts are Jay Leno~ 🥴 While I get his work ethic, we’ve reached a point in television culture that ethic wouldn’t be the norm and be altered due to costs~
So really…. while it is a win, it feels hollow and a bit sus when a specific demographic is won over a VERY hollow show~
We wuz late night kangz n sheeeeit
Grow the fuck up, toddler!
In the key demo of septuagenarians who didn’t turn the TV off after falling asleep to CSI/NCIS/FBI or whatever other acronym show is one.
Bitch!
Byron even beat “Gutfeld” in the 18-49. However, Greg is sold in the News Demo of 25-54.
Also, these numbers reflect only Monday’s numbers. I suspect that once the same day +3 numbers come in, Jelly Roll will see gains, and Comics Unleashed will not. It will be interesting to see how the entire week shakes out.
What kind of moronic producer ever thought that Jelly Roll would make a good talk show host in the first place?
They never have guest hosts who will be a threat to the regular host. Rosie certainly comes close.Jay NEVER had guest hosts, and Dave had ones who were not threat either. Rosie’s numbers were right near where Jimmy’s were before he went on summer vacation.