Well, that’s one way to draw more viewers.
Last Thursday’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in which Colbert announced his own show’s cancellation, was the show’s highest-rated episode this calendar year.
According to Nielsen live-plus-three numbers, Thursday night’s episode drew a total audience of 3,079,000 viewers on CBS—more than doubling that of its nearest timeslot competitor, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which was guest-hosted that night by Jelly Roll.
It was Colbert’s highest-rated regular episode since last October, when a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris netted nearly 3.9 million viewers. (The show’s Sunday night Super Bowl special in January drew a total audience of 3.1 million.)
Of course, with many viewers now watching late night online, traditional ratings don’t include views on Paramount+ and social media. (Colbert’s cancellation announcement has racked up another 5 million views on YouTube alone.)
One imagines that this Monday night’s show—in which a defiant Colbert addressed the fallout from last week’s announcement, featuring cameo appearances from five other late-night hosts—will perform even better. We should have initial numbers for that tomorrow.
And, yes, Gutfeld! on Fox News still beat Colbert Thursday, in terms of total viewer numbers. (Usual caveats apply: Gutfeld! airs at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT when more people are awake, but Fox News is available in only 60 million homes, versus CBS in 200 million.)
Full ratings chart for Thursday, July 17, 2025, follows below.
Live+3 Ratings – All Viewers (P2+)
| Avg Share (%) |
Avg Viewers (000s) |
|
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | ||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) |
8.52 | 3,254 |
| Watch What Happens Live (BRAVO) |
1.19 | 454 |
| 11:00 PM | ||
| The Daily Show (COM) |
2.24 | 703 |
| 11:35 PM | ||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) |
6.24 | 1,533 |
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) |
12.5 | 3,079 |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) |
4.68 | 1,129 |
| 12:37 AM | ||
| Nightline (ABC) |
5.06 | 908 |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) |
5.39 | 892 |
| After Midnight (CBS) Repeat |
3.13 | 512 |
Live+3 Ratings – In the Demo (P18-49)
| Avg Share (%) |
Avg Viewers (000s) |
|
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | ||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) |
3.9 | 255 |
| Watch What Happens Live (BRAVO) |
1.47 | 97 |
| 11:00 PM | ||
| The Daily Show (COM) |
2.7 | 157 |
| 11:35 PM | ||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) |
2.9 | 139 |
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) |
5.81 | 279 |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) |
3.61 | 170 |
| 12:37 AM | ||
| Nightline (ABC) |
2.2 | 79 |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) |
3.29 | 111 |
| After Midnight (CBS) Repeat |
1.94 | 65 |
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
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The reason this Fox Gutfeld guy pulls bigger numbers is because maga audiences watch him on tv instead of all the streaming services that most of Colbert’s & Kimmel’s younger & smarter audience watch them on. Duh.
I’d love to see Julie Andrews or Cher on the show, they are crowd pleasers
What happened to the Monday ratings for Colbert (and Jon Stewart)?