Two months after CBS replaced Colbert’s program with Allen’s show, the overall rankings remain unchanged: Comics Unleashed still places third behind ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC’s The Tonight Show.
However, according to LateNighter when Measured by retention—the percentage of viewers who stay as the hour progresses—Allen’s program outperforms the CBS lineup it replaced. In a comparison of the 11:35 p.m. hour in June 2026 versus the same hour in June 2025, both Colbert’s Late Show and Allen’s Comics Unleashed lost viewers at nearly identical rates over the first 15 minutes. After that point the patterns diverged.
Colbert’s total audience continued declining and finished the hour at 40 percent of the viewers who had been watching at 11:35. Allen retained 53 percent.
The gap is similar in the key 18–49 demographic: Allen held 60 percent of those viewers, compared with 46 percent for Colbert.
Most late-night shows gradually lose audience over the hour; Colbert’s program lost it more rapidly. Allen’s stronger retention stands out even though sleep remains the biggest rival for all hosts in the time period.
Allen’s first month of ratings had already shown distinctive audience behavior: a higher proportion of live viewing, relatively little drop-off during repeats, and peak strength on Fridays.