The late night landscape is rapidly changing. Actually, if you were to ask Jimmy Kimmel, he’d say it’s “being poisoned” and he’s starting to feel “defeated” about his long-term prospects. However, while it was a sad day when Stephen Colbert officially said goodbye to The Late Show on the 2026 TV schedule, it’s actually been pretty good news for the Jimmys, AKA Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.
In fact, Colbert’s axing has been good news for both late night hosts. The numbers for the first week of the 11:35 timeslot after The Late Show ended are finally in. Both Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon are up in the ratings, and for one of those shows, the increase has been pretty significant.
It looks like a lot of viewers who were still tuning in for The Late Show did shift to Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week. Ratings reports indicate ABC’s late night show last Monday nabbed 2.185 total viewers. That’s a 53% increase from the same show in the same time period a year ago. (It’s worth noting though that numbers for late night are down a bit during the summer and Kimmel’s show averaged 2.56 million total viewers in Q1 this year.)
More intriguingly, Kimmel also saw 295,000 viewers in the 18-49 advertising demo, which marked an increase of 178%, per TV Insider. That's a huge number, percentage-wise.
Fallon also saw an uptick in numbers during last Monday’s airing, hitting 1.3 million total viewers. That’s up 10% over the same time last year. At 194,000 he also saw a 14% increase in the advertising demo.
It honestly checks out that Kimmel’s numbers would have increased compared to Fallon’s. Kimmel has been critical of the administration and very political in a way Fallon has said he will never be on his show. While Stephen Colbert felt a bit more measured in his late night efforts, what Kimmel is bringing to the table is discourse in a way that Fallon’s fun celebrity games will never be. It makes sense if there is a natural shift to Kimmel after Colbert's exit.
What Is Good News For ABC And NBC Is Less So For CBS
Before the show ended, Stephen Colbert’s Late Night was comfortably beating the competition in the 11.35 slot, though Kimmel had been seeing gains over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen is not carrying those numbers yet. The final episode of The Late Show landed 6.7 million total viewers – the highest numbers since Colbert was given the post Super Bowl slot way back in 2016.
Obviously, Comics Unleashed was not expected to hit those great heights. In fact, I don’t think anyone expected it would even bring in The Late Show’s Q1 2026 average, which was 2.7 million total viewers an episode earlier in the year. So, what did it bring in? Monday’s episode landed Byron Allen’s show 628,000 total viewers. That means the timeslot was down 65% in viewers.
Obviously, CBS had to know the numbers would drop after it switched formats, but as the network itself has told us, the powers that be don’t really care. Byron Allen’s show is actually paying the Eye Network for the timeslot, and has to fill its own ads. This gives Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen more control, while CBS no longer has a behemoth of a series to contend with.
Given The Late Show had a big staff and was a large production, in the end it was allegedly costing the network $40 million in losses a year. On the other hand, Allen taking care of business will net the network $15 million a year. CBS sees it as “a $55 million swing” when it comes to profit; Allen himself told CBS Mornings that number is more like $150 million all in.
Still, while I’m happy for the Jimmys and hope Allen and co. find a way to turn a profit, I do think it’s worth noting that for now it does seem like not all viewers are sticking with the late night scene in Colbert’s absence. Still, any numbers that are going upward and not downward when it comes to TV ratings is a huge win, and it's particularly a big deal given neither Live! nor The Tonight Show had to do anything to earn them.
