A dark week for Jimmy Kimmel Live! handed The Late Show With Stephen Colbert its most decisive win of the season to date, as the CBS late-night show extended its lead over the 11:35 p.m. field for a second straight week.
According to Nielsen Live+3 data for the week of Oct. 19–25, The Late Show averaged 2.48 million total viewers and 248,000 adults 18–49, up 1 percent in total viewers from the previous week but down 12 percent in the demo.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! aired all repeats, falling sharply to 1.17 million viewers (–79 percent) and 167,000 adults 18–49 (–62 percent). While that was still enough to nab second place, it marked the ABC series’ lowest viewer count season-to-date.
NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon enjoyed a modest rebound from its dark week, drawing 1.03 million total viewers and 158,000 adults 18–49, up 8 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Late Night With Seth Meyers saw a similar lift, averaging 825,000 total viewers (+19 percent) and 119,000 adults 18–49 (+15 percent) with its first week of new episodes since early October.
At 12:37 a.m., ABC News: Nightline averaged 775,000 viewers (–24 percent) and 89,000 adults 18–49 (–51 percent) across five originals.
The Daily Show returned to the lineup after a dark week, delivering 904,000 total viewers and 211,000 adults 18–49 across four new episodes. (Comedy Central aired alternative programming in The Daily Show’s time slot the previous week.)
On cable, Fox News’ Gutfeld! averaged 3.14 million viewers and 239,000 adults 18–49, up 1 percent and 7 percent from the previous week. Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live posted quieter gains, up 18 percent in total viewers (328,000) and 3 percent in adults 18–49 (73,000).
Complete ratings charts for the week of Oct. 19, 2025, follow below.
Note: Time period listed is most common airtime for show
