Weekly Ratings: Kimmel Towers Over Repeat-Heavy Competition

A quick note to fellow media reporters: LateNighter pays to license Nielsen ratings data in order to independently cover late-night TV viewership trends. If these figures inform your own reporting, please credit and link back to this post. We appreciate the collegial courtesy, and it helps sustain this reporting.

With most of traditional late night either dark or in repeats last week, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! had the field largely to itself—and reaped the rewards.

According to Nielsen Live+3 data, Kimmel averaged 2.79 million total viewers for the week of Oct. 11, up 8 percent from the previous frame, while growing 13 percent among adults 18–49 to 337,000. The show aired four new episodes and one repeat.

Kimmel’s Monday episode, which began nearly an hour late due to a Monday Night Football overrun, still delivered the week’s biggest 18–49 audience, drawing 437,000 viewers in the demo. Wednesday’s episode delivered the week’s largest total audience, with 3.2 million viewers, while drawing another 430,000 adults 18–49.

Kimmel’s advantage was substantial: its 2.79 million viewers exceeded the combined 1.94 million averaged by NBC’s Tonight Show and CBS’ full hour of Comics Unleashed.

NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon aired five repeats and averaged 1.10 million total viewers, down 13 percent week to week, and 134,000 adults 18–49, down 26 percent.

With Fallon in repeats, the gap between Tonight and the full hour of Comics Unleashed narrowed. Averaging the Byron Allen-hosted show’s two half-hours, Comics Unleashed drew approximately 845,000 total viewers and 101,000 adults 18–49—putting it 254,000 total viewers and 33,000 demo viewers behind Tonight.

Comics Unleashed aired new episodes in its first half-hour on four nights, with one repeat, while its second half-hour consisted entirely of repeats.

At 12:37 a.m., NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers also aired five repeats, averaging 676,000 total viewers (–30 percent) and 85,000 adults 18–49 (–37 percent).

That put Late Night unusually close to the full hour of Funny You Should Ask, whose two half-hours averaged approximately 575,000 total viewers and 78,000 adults 18–49. 102,000 total viewers separated the shows, while the demo margin was only 7,000 viewers. Like Comics Unleashed, Funny You Should Ask aired four new first half-hours and one repeat, while its second half-hour was entirely repeats.

ABC’s Nightline, meanwhile, posted the week’s biggest gains, rising 21 percent in total viewers to 1.23 million and 51 percent in adults 18–49 to 157,000 across five first-run episodes.

On cable, Fox News’ Gutfeld! averaged 2.13 million total viewers across five new episodes, down 2 percent, while declining 14 percent in the demo to 130,000. Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live averaged 368,000 total viewers (+7 percent) and 121,000 adults 18–49 (+18 percent).

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show was dark for the week, with the network airing other programming in its usual 11:00 p.m. time slot.

A reminder that linear ratings represent only one slice of the viewing audience, with additional viewing taking place on streaming services, YouTube, and other social media platforms.

Complete Nielsen Live+3 ratings for the week of October 11, 2026, follow below.

Live+3 Ratings — All Viewers (P2+)

Live+3 Ratings — In the Demo (P18-49)

Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.