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\t\t\t\t\t\tCorden with co-hosts former England captain Rio Ferdinand, and comedian Ian Karmel. (Photo: @iankarmel\/Instagram)\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
First on LateNighter: James Corden<\/a>\u2019s return to late night did not exactly arrive with World Cup-sized ratings. But given the circumstances, it wasn\u2019t a faceplant, either.<\/p>\n According to Nielsen Live+Same Day data, Thursday\u2019s premiere of FIFA World Cup on FOX After Hours with James Corden<\/a> averaged 418,000 total viewers and 110,000 adults 18\u201349 across its midnight hour on FOX.<\/p>\n To compare Corden\u2019s performance to the rest of broadcast late night, LateNighter looked at the same midnight-to-1 a.m. ET window on ABC, NBC, and CBS. ABC\u2019s hour was split between Jimmy Kimmel Live! <\/a> and Nightline<\/a>, NBC\u2019s between The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a> and Late Night with Seth Meyers<\/a>, and CBS\u2019 between two episodes of Comics Unleashed<\/a> followed by Funny You Should Ask<\/a>.<\/p>\n On that basis, FOX trailed the same-hour competition in total viewers: ABC averaged 1.564 million viewers, NBC averaged 930,000, and CBS averaged 533,000.<\/p>\n The demo picture was less bleak. After Hours averaged 110,000 adults 18\u201349, topping CBS\u2019 64,000 and coming within range of NBC\u2019s 119,000. ABC led the hour in the demo with 320,000 adults 18\u201349.<\/p>\n In other words: not a breakout, but not a total whiff either. Airing six hours after FOX\u2019s coverage of the tournament\u2019s opening match ended, with little promotion beyond a few passing on-air mentions that day, After Hours was never likely to outdraw ABC and NBC\u2019s entrenched late-night lineups. But for a sports-adjacent pop-up show airing after midnight without any real lead-in, finishing just behind NBC in adults 18\u201349 and ahead of CBS in the demo qualifies as something short of embarrassing.<\/p>\n Corden\u2019s premiere featured Mila Kunis<\/a>, who appeared on the first episode of his CBS Late Late Show, and a pre-taped bit with the U.S. men\u2019s national team. The show is set to air several nights a week on FOX through July 15, live at midnight ET and on tape delay in other time zones.<\/p>\n