![\"Kimel,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/quadquarterlyratings4.png\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\tPhotos: ABC, NBC, CBS\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
Late night\u2019s second quarter of 2026 was anything but routine.<\/p>\n
The quarter saw the end of CBS\u2019s 30-year Late Show franchise, the introduction of Byron Allen<\/a>\u2019s two-hour time-buy block in its place, and the launch of a temporary World Cup-adjacent late-night show on Fox. It also produced major ratings spikes for both Stephen Colbert<\/a> and Jimmy Kimmel<\/a>, though under circumstances that make this quarter more difficult than usual to compare with the one before it.<\/p>\n According to Nielsen Live+7 ratings data, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a> finished its run as the quarter\u2019s most-watched late-night program, averaging 3.49 million viewers across 25 first-run episodes. That marked a 29 percent increase over the first quarter.<\/p>\n The show also posted the quarter\u2019s largest demo gain, averaging 358,000 adults 18\u201349, up 54 percent.<\/p>\n Those averages were lifted by Colbert\u2019s three-week farewell run, culminating in a May 21 finale that drew 9.77 million viewers\u2014the show\u2019s largest weeknight audience ever.<\/p>\n Only Colbert\u2019s 2016 post-Super Bowl broadcast drew more Live+7 viewers. By share, however, the finale surpassed even that episode, with 33.32 percent of people watching television at the time tuning in for Colbert\u2019s swan song.<\/p>\n The finale also averaged 1.58 million adults 18\u201349 and posted a series-high 26.12 percent demo share.<\/p>\n Still, the quarterly increase was not the result of a single outsized episode. Viewer interest built throughout Colbert\u2019s final weeks, sending The Late Show out with ratings rarely seen anywhere in late night in the current television era.<\/p>\n ABC\u2019s Jimmy Kimmel Live! <\/a>ranked second at 11:35 p.m. in total viewers, averaging 2.73 million, up 8 percent from Q1. The show averaged 319,000 adults 18\u201349, a 25 percent increase.<\/p>\n Kimmel\u2019s quarter was shaped largely by an unusually strong June. With The Late Show no longer airing new episodes, Kimmel faced less direct competition at 11:35 p.m. and also received several major boosts from ABC\u2019s NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final coverage.<\/p>\n Four June episodes following sports coverage each topped 700,000 adults 18\u201349, pushing Kimmel\u2019s monthly averages to record levels and substantially lifting his quarterly result.<\/p>\n NBC\u2019s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a> also improved in both measures, averaging 1.39 million total viewers, up 4 percent, and 211,000 adults 18\u201349, up 19 percent.<\/p>\n Fox News\u2019s Gutfeld!<\/a> averaged 3.09 million total viewers across 61 first-run episodes, down 6 percent from Q1. In the demo, the show averaged 213,000 adults 18\u201349, a decline of 14 percent.<\/p>\n At 11 p.m., Comedy Central\u2019s The Daily Show<\/a> averaged 1.18 million total viewers, up 4 percent, while its demo audience slipped 6 percent to 246,000.<\/p>\n The quarter also offered the first ratings look at CBS\u2019s post-Colbert lineup.<\/p>\n The network replaced The Late Show with back-to-back episodes of Byron Allen\u2019s Comics Unleashed<\/a>, followed by two episodes of Funny You Should Ask<\/a>. The two-hour block launched late in the quarter, so each show\u2019s average was based on roughly one month of episodes.<\/p>\n The first-run 11:35 p.m. edition of Comics Unleashed averaged 840,000 total viewers and 93,000 adults 18\u201349. The second episode, a repeat airing at 12:05 a.m., averaged 562,000 viewers and 66,000 in the demo.<\/p>\n At 12:35 a.m., repeats of Funny You Should Ask averaged 464,000 total viewers and 59,000 adults 18\u201349. Its 1:05 a.m. edition averaged 406,000 viewers and 53,000 in the demo.<\/p>\n Because the shows were not part of the first-quarter schedule, no quarter-to-quarter comparisons are available. Their Q2 results instead establish an early benchmark for Allen\u2019s time-buy arrangement with CBS.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in late night this quarter:<\/p>\n Fox introduced another new entry with FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours with James Corden<\/a>, a temporary midnight show tied to the network\u2019s World Cup coverage. Across 13 first-run episodes, the program, which marked former Late Late Show<\/a> host James Corden<\/a>\u2018s return to late-night TV, averaged 632,000 total viewers and 201,000 adults 18\u201349. Its run extends into Q3 and is scheduled to end July 19.<\/p>\n At 12:37 a.m., ABC\u2019s Nightline<\/a> averaged 982,000 total viewers, up 1 percent, and 113,000 adults 18\u201349, up 15 percent.<\/p>\n