Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ finale sets a weeknight ratings record
By Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” went out on a literal high note.
Thursday night’s series finale was the most-watched weeknight episode of Colbert’s eleven-year tenure on the show, according to overnight Nielsen ratings.
Colbert and co. averaged 6.a74 million viewers, even beating his first episode as host back in 2015, which averaged 6.55 million viewers.
The ratings results must be bittersweet for Colbert since it wasn’t his choice to sign off. CBS decided last summer to cancel the show, citing financial pressures evident across the late-night TV landscape.
Late-night talk shows like “The Late Show” have been shedding viewers for years in an increasingly fragmented media environment. Many fans who used to watch at 11:35 p.m. simply catch up later on YouTube or via social media.
In the first quarter of 2026, “The Late Show” averaged about 2.7 million viewers a night, according to CBS.
But Colbert’s finale had all the markings of big-event TV. His two main rivals, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and NBC’s Jimmy Fallon, both opted to air repeat episodes on Thursday night, knowing most eyes would be on Colbert’s show. And Kimmel strongly encouraged his viewers to flip over to CBS for one night only.
The sendoff ended with a big performance of Colbert singing “Hello Goodbye” with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, alongside Elvis Costello, Louis Cato and Jon Batiste.
So it’s not necessarily surprising that the final episode of “The Late Show” set a ratings record.
Still, it’s a striking result, especially since it was an extra-long episode, which meant viewers stayed up even later than usual to see it through.
The ratings record comes with some caveats: Colbert reached more than 20 million viewers for a special Sunday episode after the Super Bowl in 2016; and “The Late Show” routinely drew larger audiences during the David Letterman era, before YouTube and other platforms offered people infinite viewing options.
Letterman’s farewell episode in 2015 scored 13.7 million viewers.
Going forward, TV analysts have predicted that Kimmel and Fallon will absorb some of Colbert’s usual audience now that “The Late Show” has ended.
CBS won’t attempt to recreate Colbert’s show. The replacement, a roundtable comedy talk show called “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” bears little resemblance to “The Late Show.”
“Comics Unleashed” largely avoids topical humor because the episodes are designed to be replayed later. As a result, the show lacks the political commentary that has come to define much of Colbert’s run.
It currently airs after “The Late Show” at 12:35 a.m. and averages about 1.1 million viewers.
Now that “Comics Unleashed” is moving to 11:35 p.m., another show made by Allen’s production company, “Funny You Should Ask,” is moving into the late-late time slot.
Crucially for CBS, the time periods will be immediately profitable for the network. Allen has paid to lease the airtime through a “time buy,” and he would recoup his costs by selling advertising during the shows.
“I want to bring people together using comedy,” Allen said on “CBS Mornings” this week.
The-CNN-Wire
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