![\"Olivia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/rodrigokimmel2026.png\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotos: Randy Holmes\/ABC\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
A quick note to fellow media reporters: LateNighter pays to license Nielsen ratings data in order to independently cover late-night TV viewership trends. If these figures inform your own reporting, please credit and link back to this post. We appreciate the collegial courtesy, and it helps sustain this reporting.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s official: late night has a new ratings king. Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> didn\u2019t merely lead the field in June 2026\u2014Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a> posted the highest monthly ratings average of its 23-year run.<\/p>\n According to Nielsen Live+7 ratings data, Kimmel\u2019s ABC late-night show averaged 3.15 million viewers per night in June, up 24% from May. It also led among adults 18\u201349, averaging 505,000 viewers in the demo\u2014a 112% month-over-month increase.<\/p>\n Kimmel\u2019s extraordinary lift came courtesy of a unique one-two punch.<\/p>\n June marked the first full month without new episodes from Kimmel\u2019s primary 11:35 p.m. competitor, Stephen Colbert<\/a>.<\/p>\n More consequentially, Kimmel benefited from four highly rated lead-ins following ABC\u2019s coverage of the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final, boosting his audience\u2014particularly in the demo\u2014to levels rarely seen in late night in recent years.<\/p>\n Kimmel\u2019s June 3, 5, 8 and 10 episodes each drew more than 700,000 adults 18\u201349, the show\u2019s strongest demo performances since its most-watched regularly scheduled episode ever: Kimmel\u2019s September 23rd return from suspension last fall.<\/p>\n NBC\u2019s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a> placed second among the 11:35 p.m. shows, averaging 1.47 million nightly viewers, up 4% from May. Fallon, who benefited from NBC\u2019s NBA playoff coverage the previous month, fell 19% in the demo to an average of 195,000 adults 18\u201349.<\/p>\n June also marked the first full month of ratings for Byron Allen\u2019s Comics Unleashed<\/a> in CBS\u2019s former Late Show slot. Across 18 first-run episodes, the show\u2019s 11:35 p.m. half-hour averaged 807,000 total viewers, down 16% from its initial six-episode run in May, and 92,000 adults 18\u201349, down 6%.<\/p>\n The second nightly episode of Comics Unleashed, airing at 12:05 a.m., averaged 548,000 total viewers, down 10%, and 67,000 adults 18\u201349, up 6% month-over-month across all telecasts.<\/p>\n June also brought the first ratings for James Corden\u2019s World Cup-adjacent Fox late-night series, FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours with James Corden<\/a>. Across 13 first-run midnight episodes, the show averaged 632,000 total viewers and 201,000 adults 18\u201349.<\/p>\n At 12:35 a.m., Byron Allen\u2019s Funny You Should Ask<\/a>, which took over the CBS slot previously occupied by Comics Unleashed, averaged 461,000 total viewers, down 3%, and 60,000 adults 18\u201349, up 11%. Its 1:05 a.m. half-hour averaged 407,000 total viewers, up 1%, and 53,000 demo viewers, up 2%.<\/p>\n At 12:37 a.m., ABC\u2019s Nightline<\/a> led NBC\u2019s Late Night with Seth Meyers<\/a> in both total viewers and the demo. Nightline averaged 1.06 million total viewers, up 17% from May, and 163,000 adults 18\u201349, up 109%. Meyers averaged 975,000 total viewers, down 7%, and 124,000 adults 18\u201349, down 21%.<\/p>\n On cable, Comedy Central\u2019s The Daily Show<\/a> averaged 1.22 million total viewers in June, up 12% from May, and 243,000 adults 18\u201349, up 14%.<\/p>\n