The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon didn’t air until nearly an hour later than usual on the East Coast Wednesday night, but the NFL lead-in still delivered the show its biggest audience in more than six months.
Boosted by NBC’s NFL Kickoff game, The Tonight Show drew 2.002 million total viewers on September 9, according to Nielsen Live+Same Day data—its largest audience since February 6, when the show aired on a rare Friday night following NBC’s primetime coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Wednesday’s season-opening game—a Super Bowl LX rematch between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks—ended at 11:52 p.m. ET, pushing The Tonight Show nearly an hour past its usual 11:35 p.m. start time on the East Coast.
The football boost wasn’t enough for Fallon to overtake that night’s 11:35 p.m. edition of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! in total viewers, but it was a different story among younger viewers. Fallon drew 440,000 adults 18-49—nearly triple the show’s demo audience from the night before—compared to 245,000 for Kimmel.
Both shows’ numbers should rise as delayed viewing is added in the coming days. And, of course, Nielsen’s linear ratings represent only one slice of the late-night audience, with clips and other digital viewing often reaching audiences that eclipse the shows’ nightly television totals.
Fallon’s guests Wednesday were Matthew McConaughey and Alix Earle, with a musical performance by Riley Green.
Sports lead-ins—and NFL games in particular—have proven to be among the most reliable drivers of live tune-in for late-night television. Last season, all four of Fallon’s special Sunday editions following Sunday Night Football ranked among The Tonight Show’s ten highest-rated episodes of the season.
And NBC is giving Fallon four more cracks at the Sunday Night Football audience this season.
The first comes September 27, when a special Sunday edition of The Tonight Show will follow the Los Angeles Rams–Denver Broncos game and local news, with Sylvester Stallone and Luke Bryan among Fallon’s guests.
Additional post-football editions are scheduled for November 8, following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers–Chicago Bears game; November 15, after the Pittsburgh Steelers–Cincinnati Bengals game; and January 10, following the NFL’s final regular-season game, with the teams for that matchup still to be determined.
Below are ratings charts for Wednesday, September 9, 2026:
Live+SD Ratings — All Viewers (P2+)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000’s) | Vs Night Before | |
| 10:00 p.m. | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC)† did not air | — | — | — |
| Watch What Happens Live (Bravo)* first-run episode | 0.33 | 169 | -38% |
| 11:00 p.m. | |||
| The Daily Show (COM)* first-run episode | 1.14 | 448 | -19% |
| 11:35 p.m. | |||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) first-run episode | 8.50 | 2,156 | +7% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) aired at 12:27 a.m. this day | 11.44 | 2,002 | +66% |
| Comics Unleashed 1 (CBS)* repeat | 2.04 | 555 | -13% |
| 12:05 a.m. | |||
| Comics Unleashed 2 (CBS)* repeat | 2.00 | 424 | -8% |
| 12:35 a.m. | |||
| Funny You Should Ask 1 (CBS)* repeat | 1.85 | 330 | -12% |
| 12:37 a.m. | |||
| Nightline (ABC)* first-run episode | 4.38 | 784 | -15% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) aired at 1:29 a.m. this day | 8.86 | 1,133 | +79% |
| 1:05 a.m. | |||
| Funny You Should Ask 2 (CBS)* repeat | 1.83 | 274 | -18% |
Live+SD Ratings — In the Demo (P18-49)
| US Share (%) | US AA Proj (000’s) | Vs Night Before | |
| 10:00 p.m. | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC)† did not air | — | — | — |
| Watch What Happens Live (Bravo)* first-run episode | 0.41 | 51 | -36% |
| 11:00 p.m. | |||
| The Daily Show (COM)* first-run episode | 0.61 | 61 | -24% |
| 11:35 p.m. | |||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) first-run episode | 4.49 | 245 | +9% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) aired at 12:27 a.m. this day | 11.74 | 440 | +186% |
| Comics Unleashed 1 (CBS)* repeat | 1.35 | 80 | +5% |
| 12:05 a.m. | |||
| Comics Unleashed 2 (CBS)* repeat | 1.23 | 55 | -10% |
| 12:35 a.m. | |||
| Funny You Should Ask 1 (CBS)* repeat | 1.24 | 48 | +9% |
| 12:37 a.m. | |||
| Nightline (ABC)* first-run episode | 3.06 | 118 | +6% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) aired at 1:29 a.m. this day | 8.74 | 228 | +148% |
| 1:05 a.m. | |||
| Funny You Should Ask 2 (CBS)* repeat | 1.19 | 37 | -16% |
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
