Stephen Colbert continues to improve his late-night audience.
For the seventh consecutive week, CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert topped the previously typical victor (NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) among total viewers. Colbert’s Late Show average of 3.2 million viewers bested Fallon’s Tonight haul of 3.1 million viewers. Thanks to interruptions from March Madness, Colbert aired repeats Thursday and Friday, but even with just the three-night average, his advantages could not be overcome.
It’s a real coup for the CBS host, who is enjoying his best ratings since his 2015 launch thanks to relentless coverage of the Donald Trump administration. Last week saw Colbert poking fun at Rachel Maddow and her drawn-out delivery of select tax returns from the new U.S. president.
One place Colbert cannot catch Fallon, however, is among adults 18-49. Late-night’s favored demo continues to flock to Tonight. This past week, the NBC stalwart enjoyed a 39 percent lead over CBS’ Late Show with an average 0.75 rating in the key demo. (Late Show, in turn, averaged a 0.54 rating.)
Given the shared nature of these wins, Colbert might be best compared to himself. It’s also where his numbers are most impressive. Compared to the same week a year ago, The Late Show audience is up 24 percent.
