{"id":624111,"date":"2026-06-06T08:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/624111\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T08:25:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:25:14","slug":"cbs-hands-rivals-an-easy-win-as-kimmel-and-fallon-scoop-up-colbert-viewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/624111\/","title":{"rendered":"CBS hands rivals an easy win as Kimmel and Fallon scoop up Colbert viewers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

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Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

CBS\u2019s axing of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert<\/a> has provided a ratings boon to its rival networks, new data suggests.<\/a><\/p>\n

On Monday, the first night that ABC\u2019s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and NBC\u2019s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon returned with new episodes since Colbert signed off<\/a>, Kimmel\u2019s show dominated the competitive 11:35 p.m. time slot, according to numbers from Nielsen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kimmel was watched by 2.185 million total viewers on June 1<\/a>, a 53 percent year-on-year increase. Data also reveals that the program attracted 295,000 viewers in the 18 to 49 demographic, which marks a significant 178 percent increase from the same night last year.<\/p>\n

Fallon came in second with 1.301 million viewers on Monday \u2014 a 10 percent increase year-over-year. The 18 to 24 demographic viewership increased by 14 percent from last year, with 194,000 viewers.<\/p>\n

CBS\u2019s replacement show for Colbert, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, struggled to keep up with the competition, receiving only 628,000 total viewers, representing a 65 percent drop from the same slot compared to last year, when Colbert occupied it.<\/p>\n

\"ABC\u2019sABC\u2019s \u2018Jimmy Kimmel Live!\u2019 and NBC\u2019s \u2018The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon\u2019 have scooped up late-night viewers after CBS axed Stephen Colbert\u2019s slot (CBS\/ABC\/NBC)<\/p>\n

When the show premiered in the slot on May 22, it drew 995,000 viewers. By comparison, Colbert\u2019s series attracted an average audience of 2.7 million throughout its final season on air.<\/p>\n

Comics Unleashed, launched in 2006, features Allen alongside a rotating panel of stand-up comedians performing short comedy routines.<\/p>\n

It now operates under a time-buy agreement in which Allen Media Group purchased airtime from CBS and handled its own advertising sales, meaning that CBS is not directly affected by poor ratings.<\/p>\n

\"ByronByron Allen\u2019s \u2018Comics Unleashed\u2019 struggled to keep up with the competition on Monday, receiving only 628,000 total viewers (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

CBS announced the cancellation of the long-running Late Show franchise last July, just days after Colbert criticized the network\u2019s parent company<\/a>, Paramount, for reaching a $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over accusations that its series 60 Minutes deceptively edited a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n

The final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which aired on May 21, attracted an audience of 6.74 million viewers, making it the most-watched weeknight episode during the show\u2019s 11-year run.<\/p>\n

Allen has since said he\u2019s \u201cnot trying to replace\u201d Colbert.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI am not trying to hold on to his audience because Comics Unleashed has been around 20 years and has its own audience,\u201d Allen, 65, told NPR. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019re speaking to people who have been ignored. And good luck finding another show that\u2019s had on more comedians of every shape and size and color.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,11237,20695,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-624111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-horizontal","tag-red-carpet","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}