Jimmy Kimmel remains the king of late-night television and continues to see ratings success on the 2026 TV schedule. His late-night reign continues after Stephen Colbert left the scene, but the same can't be said for one of his competitors.
October was good for Kimmel when it comes to the ratings. However, that can't be said for the other Jimmy in late night, as Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show saw ratings fall over the past month. Fallon is the outlier in the latest report from Latenighter.com, as the numbers suggest that NBC's late-night staple is on the decline.
Jimmy Kimmel And Others Are Up In The Ratings
Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 3 million viewers in October, marking a minuscule drop compared to September, with only a 3% decline in audience. Kimmel is far and away the king of late-night television, as the host continues to lean on his ongoing feud with the President and his administration.
Byron Allen's Comics Unleashed saw solid growth in viewership with a 19% jump, bringing its average to 797,000. Funny You Should Ask also saw a 17% boost, with an average audience of 549,000. Well below Kimmel, but as we've mentioned, CBS gets paid to air the programming. In short, the network is making money regardless of ratings.
Late Night With Seth Meyers saw some small growth, too, with a 1% audience change, bringing its average viewership to 1.05 million. A solid number for its later timeslot, which is more than The Tonight Show can say.
The Tonight Show Is Down In Ratings, And Far Behind Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Tonight Show is down 8% in overall viewership from October, losing more ground in the ratings battle with Jimmy Kimmel Live. It's currently averaging 1.38 million, which is almost less than half the average audience of its competitor.
One big metric between the two that's worth pointing out is that The Tonight Show saw a 13% drop in the key demographic of 18-49, bringing it to 201,000. That key advertising demo is important to networks, and something Jimmy Kimmel Live is also beating it at, with an average of 329,000.
The Tonight Show has always approached its programming with a social media-first mindset, but one has to wonder how the network feels about this disparity in the ratings.
Catch both The Tonight Show on NBC and Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET. The end of the year is coming up, and I'll be curious to see what the late-night scene looks like come this time next year.
