Note: LateNighter generally posts late-night live-plus-seven quarterly ratings on a seven (business) day delay, which is how they are released by Nielsen.
As the third quarter of 2025 came to a close, the late-night hierarchy held steady—with CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert once again leading the 11:35 PM hour in total viewers, and NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers continuing its dominance in the 12:37 AM slot across both ratings metrics.
Q3 is traditionally a softer period for late-night television, reflecting both seasonal viewing habits—fewer people watching live late at night—and prime-time programming slowdowns as networks rely more on repeats.
Against that backdrop, CBS’s Late Show not only held steady but posted growth, averaging 2.84 million total viewers across 31 first-run episodes, up 17 percent from Q2. The surge followed CBS’s mid-July announcement that it was canceling the long-running franchise, prompting a wave of curiosity and renewed loyalty from viewers tuning in ahead of the show’s final season. In the key 18–49 demographic, Colbert averaged 260,000 viewers, up 19 percent quarter to quarter—its best showing since mid-2023 and enough to comfortably maintain its lead over broadcast rivals.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 1.85 million viewers and 243,000 in the demo, showing modest overall growth but a clear late-quarter boost following Kimmel’s late-September return from suspension. NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon also ticked up slightly to 1.23 million viewers and 170,000 in the demo, maintaining third place in both categories.
At 12:37 AM, NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers once again led the late-late landscape, averaging 923,000 total viewers and 109,000 in the demo. ABC’s Nightline followed with 745,000 viewers and 96,000 in the demo, declining by 8 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
Fox News’s Gutfeld!, which airs at 10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT, drew an average of 3.20 million viewers and 231,000 in the demo, down slightly from Q2. Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen averaged 286,000 total viewers and 62,000 in the demo, down 17 percent and 35 percent, while Comedy Central’s The Daily Show held steady with 1.01 million total viewers and 207,000 in the demo at 11 PM, up 9 percent.
Across all shows tracked by LateNighter, aggregate late-night linear viewership was essentially flat quarter over quarter in total viewers but up slightly—around 3 percent—among adults 18–49, thanks primarily to gains from Colbert and Kimmel.
Complete ratings charts for Q3 2025 follow below.
Note: Quarterly ratings averages include only first-run episodes (rebroadcasts and specials are excluded). Time period listed is most common airtime for show.
Live+7 Ratings – All Viewers (P2+)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Last Qtr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
|
Watch What Happens Live (BRAVO)
47 First-run episodes | 0.68 | 286 | -17% |
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † 60 First-run episodes | 7.72 | 3,198 | -3% |
| 11:00 PM | |||
| The Daily Show (COM) * 29 First-run episodes | 3.16 | 1,005 | +1% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
34 First-run episodes | 7.53 | 1,845 | +4% |
|
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
31 First-run episodes | 11.58 | 2,836 | +17% |
|
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
37 First-run episodes | 5.37 | 1,231 | +4% |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| Nightline (ABC) * 64 First-run episodes | 4.23 | 745 | -8% |
|
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
37 First-run episodes | 5.76 | 923 | +3% |
Live+7 Ratings – In the Demo (P18-49)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Last Qtr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
|
Watch What Happens Live (BRAVO)
47 First-run episodes | 0.79 | 62 | -35% |
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † 60 First-run episodes | 3.08 | 231 | -3% |
| 11:00 PM | |||
| The Daily Show (COM) * 29 First-run episodes | 3.39 | 207 | +9% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
34 First-run episodes | 5.04 | 243 | +10% |
|
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
31 First-run episodes | 5.46 | 260 | +19% |
|
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
37 First-run episodes | 3.92 | 170 | +8% |
| 12:37 AM | |||
| Nightline (ABC) * 64 First-run episodes | 2.69 | 96 | -11% |
|
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
37 First-run episodes | 3.4 | 109 | -2% |
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
A suggestion: you guys should compare internet numbers as well. Not sure if full episode streaming numbers are available from peacock Hulu etc.. But at least you could compare socials and YouTube. Follower/subscriber count changes, and total views/likes comparisons on all the platforms.
Gawd…no…internet numbers don’t matter. The metrics used usually come from the companies themselves and are not reliable.
Youtube doesn’t provide unique numbers of people being reached nor average time spent.
Heck, Nielsen is not reliable, but they’re still the most trusted out there.
But these numbers will probably look better if Big Data Plus data was used for 4Q25 rather than Panel-Only.
Fallon is awful
Mucky Boy is a right wing MAGA troll that gets its kicks out of accusing others of racism, after he posts racist shit of his own here!
Late Night Television is on Television .
No one watches Gut-field, it’s sooo boooorrring!
COLBERT RULES THEM ALL!
in betaboi
never heard of Gutfield, but Steven Colbert is always spot on😄
Why isn’t Nielsen tracking Comics Unleashed? I’d love to see how much it’s getting thrashed by Meyers.
It’s not clear why Comics Unleashed isn’t showing up. It may simply be that CBS isn’t submitting it, or it may be reltaed to it being a time buy. We too would love to see those numbers.
Viewers/voters for freedom!!! 💙🇺🇸💙
none of these so called comics are funny cancel them all.
Fake news , King Trump said they have no talent and there shows are flailing no need to look at statistics or evidence.
allshitheads
Yer teerz iz delish!
late night losers!
That’s you, bitchboi!
Jimmy Kimmel should be sued for miscarriage. of justice and be suspended
YOU should be sued for character assassination, bitchboi!
Kimmel needs to be replaced. Lack of talent and not funny.
Kimmel’s not going anywheres! Gutfool is a humorless hack who’s show wouldn’t survive one episode, if it wasn’t on Fox News!
great for late night shows we. need comedy and free speech without worrying about Trump not happy with what they say
Everybody forgot about Kimmel in black face
Now get over yourself!
What a world we have that night host people like Kimmel Fallon Colber and others can speak about the President of the United States so disrespectfully. No one is perfect only God can boast of that perfection. However I do think President Trump is doing the best that he can. Remember love is a powerful weapon it has the ability to bring inner peace to those that seek it. We should never judge a person when the heart can not be seen. God bless you and watch over you and keep you well President Trump and if I don’t see you on earth I’ll see you in Heaven.
good luck with that. Trump took the down elevator (by choice) years ago.
You fucking imbecile! Drumpf only cares about lining his own grubby pockets and enacting revenge on his perceived enemies! He sucked the last time he was in office, and he’s much worse now!
Thanks a lot for voting him back in you ignorant git! You’ve just booked your spot in the Ninth Circle of hell foe unleashing that piece of shit on us again, ignorant filth!
where are the Black Folks?
WTF is it to you?
I’m working on it.
Yeah its a win allright – look at the playing field . Not much to brag about
Then, you’re delicate widdle fee-fees won’t be offended!
CBS should reinstate The Late Show with Steven Colbert. Otherwise I’m cancelling CBS in our home once Steven is finished. Shame on CBS Executives who bowed down to the orange buffoon
I agree CBS should be ashamed they’re scared of trump and let him bully them too bad I like some stove stuff on CBS but it’s a shame they let politics play into their Network I’m going to start a drive to get people to cancel CBS until they bring our boy back you with me?
I love Comics Unleashed!!!
put it on earlier and KEEP
IT ON!!!
Bryan Allen is a really good
host and inventor of this show!!!
Why don’t you include Greg Gutfield in the want to know more about section?
Gutfool is a humorless hack that only people with no sense of humor thinks is funny! You’re welcome!
all I can say is shame on CBS for allowing Trump to bully them into shutting down one of the most popular late night shows. So much for free speech.
Isn’t the demographic important too? I’m betting Gutfield’s audience is much older and they only watch Fox so viewership isn’t divided, wear as the network shows are competing between a much younger demographic.
I watch all 3 at 11.30. I listen to Kimmel’s monaloge then Colbert switch to see Fallon’s first guest then back to Kimmel and Colbert
Always watch Seth Meyers
Gutfeld leading the pack from basic cable. The broadcast networks have killed late night talk.
He’s a humorless hack who couldn’t cut the mustard as a stand up, so he turned to right wing politics to find his audience!
If Gutfool was on a regular channel, he’d be cancelled after the first show!
You fuckers have no fucking clue what’s entertaining!
If he were on at 11:30 Eastern and Pacific (instead of 10pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific), the numbers would be very different. Most of his viewers would be asleep by then. It’s a prime time show getting prime time numbers.
I wouldn’t believe a damn thing that you people put out about ratings like most of the losers commenting. They’re all left-wing scumbags. They’ll say anything to keep these left-wing rats on the air.
🧻
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
They all are no good, and not even funny! Making fun of the President of our Country is really Poor! I will say when and if they become
Perfect roll models -forget it!!
Drumpf is the absolute worst president, EVER! The fact that you smooth brained imbeciles wanted to keep putting him back in power shows how fucked up people like you are!
Late night talk show hosts have been making fun of people in power (including and especially the President) since the dawn of the genre. If you can’t make fun of the President, you no longer have a President. You have a Dictator.
They all are no good, and not even funny! Making fun of the President of our Country is really Poor! I will say when and if they become
Perfect roll models -forget it!!
Posting the same message twice is so fucking lame on your part!
these shows give a raw view of what is happening with comedy since this government is scary. I am thankful for experience these professionals have involving its viewers to participate in politics. call your representative and be involved, be a voice for your constitutional rights.
I’m surprised Fox’s Gutfield has many viewers. He’s not witty or funny. He has an underlying mean streak.
That “† = airs at 7pm PT” caveat in the Nielsen charts is part of the reason. It’s on earlier and earlier the further west you go. It’s getting prime time cable numbers on the channel that most of its viewers watch live because they’re more used to linear television.
You should’ve put Greg Gutfeld’s pic up there too. Be fair.