Stephen Colbert's ratings for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2024 are here, along with ratings for the other Late-Night notables. Long considered one of the best talk show hosts currently working, Stephen Colbert made the jump from his satirical The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to the legendary The Late Show gig in 2015, trading in his fictional persona for a real one. It took a bit of time for audiences to come around to the new format of Stephen Colbert, which saw him taking a less funny tone as he worked within the late-night host boundaries.
As the seasons have gone on, Colbert has found his footing, and he's effectively managed to weave in his natural comedic chops with a fun and light interview style. He's effectively kept the long-running talk show in the popular consciousness, proving himself a worthy successor to the show's progenitor, David Letterman. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert remains one of the more popular Late Night shows airing and while live televised talk shows have taken a hit in 2024, Stephen Colbert is still doing pretty well relatively.
Stephen Colbert Is A Late-Night Ratings Leader
Colbert Has High Numbers In The P18-49 Demographic
By percentage share, which measures the percentage of people watching a show compared to the number of people watching TV in total, CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was the 2024 champion (via LateNighter). The show drew an average of 8.7% among all viewers ages 2 and up when the show airs, which is weekdays at 11:35 PM. When it comes to the coveted 18-49 demographic, The Late Show was still a winner with an average nightly viewership of 281,000 viewers, coming out to a 4.47% share.
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For year-over-year growth, Comedy Central's The Daily Show was number one, growing its audience by a massive 84% among total viewers from the previous year, and 53% among viewers aged 18-49. The bad news is that beyond The Daily Show, Gutfield, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson, no late-night shows logged more viewers in 2024 than they did in 2023. However, the 2023 Writers Strike may have had a hand in those rating decreases.
|
Avg Share (%) |
Avg Viewers (000's) |
Vs Last Year |
|
|
10:00 PM |
|||
|
Gutfield! |
2.35 |
241 |
+29.57% |
|
Watch What Happens Live |
1.36 |
153 |
-27.49% |
|
11:00 PM |
|||
|
The Daily Show |
2.32 |
196 |
+53.13% |
|
11:35 PM |
|||
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live! |
3.56 |
221 |
-12.30% |
|
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert |
4.47 |
281 |
-8.77% |
|
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon |
3.46 |
220 |
-16.67% |
|
12:37 PM |
|||
|
Nightline |
2.58 |
125 |
-12.59% |
|
After Midnight |
3.46 |
156 |
- |
|
Late Night with Seth Meyers |
3.38 |
152 |
-13.64% |
Summer episodes are typically the lowest rated for a late-night show and since the 2023 Writers Strike meant those episodes didn't air, the 2023 averages are not brought down by those low ratings in the same way the 2024 averages are. While Stephen Colbert had the largest decrease in overall viewership from 2023 to 2024, he had the smallest decrease when it came to the all-important 18-49 demographic.
What's Next For The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Colbert Is Not Stopping Anytime Soon
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert began airing new episodes in 2025, starting on January 6, 2025, and it doesn't look like Colbert will be hanging up the job anytime soon. David Letterman had 23 seasons with the show and this is only Colbert's 10th, he still has plenty more to go. As a part-political satire show, ratings for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert are likely to be significant in 2025 considering this is the first year after a U.S. election.
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