Jimmy Kimmel Live was the 11:35 p.m. ratings leader for the third week in a row last week, but it was NBC’s late-night shows that posted the biggest gains, thanks in large part to a pair of visits from Taylor Swift.
According to Nielsen Live+3 data for the week of Oct. 4, Kimmel drew a nightly average of 2.28 million total viewers. Among viewers aged 18–49, the show’s average was 250,000.
While both figures were down from the prior week’s Brooklyn run—off 23% among total viewers and down 34% in the demo—Kimmel remained well ahead of his network competitors for the week.
Among those competitors, NBC’s Jimmy Fallon won the week’s momentum award, with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon climbing 35% week over week to 1.45 million total viewers, lifted by Swift’s appearance on Monday (the show was up 79% week-over-week that night, and up another 39% Tuesday night, when Fallon welcomed the real-life singers behind the KPop Demon Hunters hit “Golden.”)
Late Night With Seth Meyers also posted gains, up 18% in total viewers and 29% among adults 18–49, thanks to its own visit from the pop superstar on Wednesday night (up 58% week-over-week), and a rare new Friday episode (up 36%).
CBS’s Late Show With Stephen Colbert aired a full week of repeats, averaging 1.06 million total viewers—down 56% from the previous week’s new episodes.
On cable, Fox News’ Gutfeld! continued to command the largest total audience among the shows we track, drawing 2.93 million viewers at 10 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT, a 12% decline from the prior week.
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show inched up 4% in total viewers and 7% among adults 18–49—another solid week for guest host Josh Johnson, who wrapped his second stint leading the program’s Tuesday through Thursday editions.
