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Late night tv ratings
Executive summary
Late-night TV in 2025 remains concentrated around a few clear leaders: CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is the ratings leader in the 11:35 p.m. hour with multi-million average audiences (about 2.4M in Q2; other reporting lists ~2.15M weekly averages in November), while NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers dominates the 12:37 a.m. slot with under one million in many weekly tallies (about 823,000 in one recent weekly average) [1] [2] [3] [4]. Quarterly and weekly trade coverage from LateNighter, Statista, ScreenRant and others show the hierarchy has held relatively steady through mid- and late‑2025, with small quarter-to-quarter shifts and episodic spikes tied to big guests [5] [6] [7] [8].
1. The scoreboard: who’s winning the late‑night hours
Multiple industry trackers and trade outlets place Stephen Colbert’s Late Show atop the 11:35 p.m. hour in total viewers for the first half of 2025—Statista cites an average of roughly 2.42 million in Q2 and LateNighter’s quarterly rundowns reiterate Colbert’s lead in total viewers [1] [5]. Weekly snapshots show some back-and-forth—weeks when Jimmy Kimmel or others claim demo wins—but the quarterly trendlines have Colbert consistently near the top in raw viewers [4] [7].
2. The late‑night middle and late slots: Seth Meyers and beyond
Late Night with Seth Meyers is frequently identified as the leader in the 12:37 a.m. slot across ratings reports, though its audience size is markedly smaller than the 11:35 leaders; one reporting snapshot lists Meyers at about 823,000 viewers in a weekly average [5] [3]. Trade coverage notes that second‑and‑later slots typically attract fewer viewers and are judged on different benchmarks [5] [7].
3. Weeklies vs. quarterlies: why numbers fluctuate
Late‑night ratings coverage distinguishes short‑term weekly swings from longer quarterly averages. Weekly lists highlight guest-driven spikes—Taylor Swift appearances, tribute episodes or sports lead‑ins can move an episode’s audience dramatically—while quarterly live+3 or live+7 metrics smooth those bumps to show broader trends [6] [5]. LateNighter explicitly flags that it posts live‑plus‑seven quarterly ratings on a business‑day delay following Nielsen releases, which explains why weekly and quarterly snapshots can tell different stories [5].
4. Demo vs. total viewers: competing claims of success
Coverage repeatedly separates total viewers and the 18–49 demo. For example, some nights Jimmy Kimmel led in the demo even when Colbert led in total viewers, reflecting different advertiser priorities [4]. Industry pieces and charts emphasize both metrics, and outlets lean on the metric that best supports their framing—quarterly pieces privilege stability in totals while weeklies call out demo swings tied to special guests [5] [4].
5. Context: viewing habits, platform shift, and interpretation
Analysts cited in trade reporting and commentary note secular pressures on late night: seasonality (Q3 softness), platform fragmentation, podcasts and streaming pulling audiences, and occasional “event television” that still drives big nights [5] [8]. Opinion pieces argue cultural influence and relevance are changing even for shows that still post decent ratings—The Washington Post’s take, for instance, frames the landscape as shifting under established hosts [9]. Available sources do not provide a comprehensive Nielsen dataset here, so exact rankings beyond cited snapshots are not included in this briefing [5] [1].
6. Who claims success—and why that matters
Trade outlets push different narratives: LateNighter focuses on quarterly Nielsen averages and framing about “pecking order,” ScreenRant and IMDb contextualize with commentary about competitiveness and potential challengers, and Statista highlights headline numbers and accompanying political commentary tied to programming controversies [5] [8] [1]. Each outlet has an implicit agenda: trade sites emphasize industry stability and advertiser‑relevant metrics; entertainment sites highlight talent competition and storylines; data aggregators emphasize headline stats and visual charts [5] [8] [1].
7. Bottom line and caveats for readers
The available reporting consistently shows Colbert as the 11:35 total‑viewer leader and Seth Meyers as the 12:37 leader, with week‑to‑week volatility driven by high‑profile guests and lead‑ins; precise totals vary by week versus quarter and by metric (total viewers vs. 18–49 demo) [5] [1] [3] [4]. This briefing relies on trade and entertainment reporting rather than a full Nielsen release; if you need an exhaustive, episode‑by‑episode Nielsen table, the cited outlets indicate that live+3 and live+7 Nielsen reports are the primary sources but those full datasets are not reproduced in the current reporting [5] [7].