If you been wondering who is the late night king on TV, let's take a look at the Q2 2025 Nielsen data for April thru June. According to Latenighter.com...
Gutfeld! (Fox News, 10:00 PM ET): Averaged 3.289 million total viewers, making it the most-watched late-night show across broadcast and cable. It saw significant year-over-year gains, up 31% in total viewers and 24% in the 18–49 demographic (238,00 viewers). Its earlier time slot (10:00 PM ET) and cable platform give it an advantage in raw viewership, though it competes against different programming compared to the 11:35 PM network shows.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS, 11:35 PM ET): Led the 11:35 PM slot with 2.417 million total viewers across 41 first-run episodes, up 1% from Q1 2025. In the 18–49 demo, it averaged 219,000 viewers, slightly behind Kimmel. Despite its lead in its time slot, CBS announced the show will end in May 2026 due to financial challenges in late-night TV, not performance.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC, 11:35 PM ET): Averaged 1.772 million total viewers, down from Colbert but up 2% from May 2025. It edged out Colbert in the 18–49 demo with 220,000 viewers, boosted by strong primetime lead-ins like NBA Finals coverage in June. Kimmel saw a 54% demo surge month-over-month in June, its strongest since June 2024.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC, 11:35 PM ET): Trailed with 1.188 million total viewers, down 7% from May, and 157,000 in the 18–49 demo, the lowest among the 11:35 PM shows. It faced the steepest year-over-year declines: -16% in total viewers and -29% in the demo compared to Q2 2024.
In the 12:37 AM slot, Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) led with 900,000 total viewers and 111,000 in the 18–49 demo, ahead of Nightline (ABC, 810,000 total viewers, 108,000 demo) and After Midnight (CBS, 591,000 total viewers, 89,000 demo, ended in June). The Daily Show (Comedy Central, 11:00 PM) held steady with 994,000 total viewers and 190,000 in the demo.
Gutfeld!’s dominance is partly due to its 10:00 PM slot, when more viewers are watching TV, and its appeal to a conservative audience, contrasting with the liberal leanings of Colbert, Kimmel, and Fallon. Critics note that comparing cable (Gutfeld!) to broadcast (Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon) isn’t always fair due to different audience reach and time slots.
Late-night TV faces broader challenges, with declining ad revenue (down 10% in 2024) and audiences shifting to streaming and podcasts. This has led to reduced episode counts (e.g., Fallon and Kimmel down to four new episodes weekly) and CBS’s decision to retire The Late Show.