The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon scored one of its biggest audiences of the year Sunday night, thanks to a strong Sunday Night Football lead-in. The October 26 broadcast followed NBC’s matchup between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers and began at 12:31 a.m. ET after the local news.
According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the episode drew 1.8 million total viewers, ranking as The Tonight Show’s third-highest-rated broadcast of 2025. Among adults 18–49, Fallon delivered 573,000 viewers, marking the show’s second-best performance of the year in the advertiser-coveted demographic. Glen Powell, Alex Rodriguez, and Florence + The Machine were Fallon’s guests on the special Sunday night episode.
The ratings boost was substantial. Compared with the show’s live-plus-same-day season-to-date averages, Sunday’s post-football episode was up 66 percent among total viewers and 247 percent among adults 18–49. The gains came despite the delayed start time, underscoring the continued strength of NFL lead-ins for late-night programming.
Similarly, Jimmy Kimmel Live! routinely sees its highest ratings on Monday nights following ABC’s broadcasts of Monday Night Football.
NBC is airing four special Sunday editions of The Tonight Show this fall, scheduled to follow Sunday Night Football and local newscasts. The first aired September 21 after the Kansas City Chiefs–New York Giants game, featuring guests Matthew McConaughey and Eric Church. Upcoming editions are slated for November 16 after the Lions–Eagles matchup and December 7 following the Texans–Chiefs game.
In addition to the Sunday broadcasts, Fallon also hosted a special Tonight Show on September 4 after NBC’s NFL Kickoff Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, and will air a special Thanksgiving night episode following this year’s Bengals–Ravens matchup.
The Tonight Show showrunner Chris Miller has described the collaboration with NBC Sports as a chance to connect directly with football audiences, noting that the program often builds sports-themed segments around these post-game editions.
Sunday’s strong performance continues a pattern for The Tonight Show: each of Fallon’s three highest-rated episodes this year have followed football telecasts, reaffirming the NFL’s status as late night’s most reliable lead-in.
Below is a list of The Tonight Show’s five most-watched episodes this calendar year to date, per Nielsen live-plus-same-day data:
| Rank | Date (Notes) | Avg Viewers 2+ (000s) | Avg Viewers 18–49 (000s) |
| 1 | 9/4/25 (NFL Kickoff) | 2,181 | 764 |
| 2 | 9/21/25 (Post–Sunday Night Football) | 2,025 | 571 |
| 3 | 10/26/25 (Post–Sunday Night Football) | 1,843 | 573 |
| 4 | 10/6/25 (Taylor Swift guests) | 1,777 | 242 |
| 5 | 8/7/25 (Greg Gutfeld guests) | 1,712 | 197 |
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
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Jimmy used to be at CBS and ABC COMBINED. I am saddened that he is not reaching more than two million viewers.
Put it before the local news in order to really catch the nfl heat. I wonder if the nba will do anything for him Tuesday nights. Stinks more Fridays since I can stay up more often !
Would be nice but I’m sure the affiliates networks would rather prioritize their local news broadcast benefitting from the lead-in before anything else.