By comparison, Colbert\u2019s series finale<\/a> attracted more than 6.7 million viewers via the same metric, meaning CBS saw an 85 percent downturn in viewership just one day after Colbert\u2019s show went dark for good.<\/p>\n The final Late Show aired on Thursday. \/ CBS Photo Archive \/ Scott Kowalchyk\/CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n Comics Unleashed also failed to match any of its late-night peers, with Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon each earning more than 1.5 million viewers on the same night. And while Fallon aired a new episode, Kimmel\u2019s was a rerun.<\/p>\n Courtesy Allen Media Group<\/p>\n According to Allen Media Group, the billionaire media mogul\u2019s TV company, Allen\u2019s comedy panel show beat Kimmel, 58, and Fallon, 51, in specific local markets, though the Nielsen data used in its graphic is cherry-picked by targeted demographics.<\/p>\n All ratings information is awaiting a more extensive calculation once delayed-viewing data becomes available.<\/p>\n On Thursday, nearly 7 million people tuned in to watch Colbert roast Trump, 79, interview celebrities like Paul Rudd, Bryan Cranston, and his late-night compatriots<\/a>, and perform Beatles songs with Paul McCartney. It was Colbert\u2019s most-watched weeknight show<\/a> in the show\u2019s 11-year history, more than doubling his season average.<\/p>\n In April, CBS revealed<\/a> that Allen, 65, had purchased Colbert\u2019s marquee timeslot for \u201ctens of millions,\u201d where he would air his show, Comics Unleashed, and sell his own commercial space directly to advertisers. The show will be followed by another one of Allen\u2019s programs, Funny You Should Ask, giving the billionaire two hours of uninterrupted airtime on CBS.<\/p>\n Byron Allen arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscars party after the 97th Academy Awards, in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., March 2, 2025. REUTERS\/Danny Moloshok \/ Danny Moloshok \/ REUTERS<\/p>\n In an interview with NPR<\/a> before the show\u2019s new timeslot debut, Allen foresaw the ratings dip.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, I\u2019m not trying to replace Colbert,\u201d Allen said last week. \u201cI am not trying to hold on to his audience because Comics Unleashed has been around 20 years and has its own audience.”<\/p>\n \u201cNot everybody\u2019s gonna love me. Not everyone\u2019s going to love the fact that I\u2019m not being racist or antisemitic or sexist,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut there is that one or two percent that would be like \u2018Hell yeah, I\u2019m rolling with you,\u2019 and I learned that at an early age, and by the way, that simple lesson made me a billionaire.\u201d<\/p>\n For Comics Unleashed\u2018s May 22 timeslot debut, Allen premiered a new half-hour featuring comedians Hannah Dickinson, Mark Smalls, Lance Woods, and Joe Sib. The show\u2019s second half hour was a rerun of an episode that originally aired on September 30, 2025.<\/p>\n According to a press release<\/a>, the show has followed that format in all shows since.<\/p>\n Less than 24 hours after Colbert left The Late Show\u2018s Ed Sullivan Theater, the now-former late-night host made a surprise appearance<\/a> on a local, public access TV show, Only in Monroe.<\/p>\n In the four days since it premiered on Colbert\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>, the episode has over 928,000 views\u2014nearly as many as his replacement\u2019s nationally syndicated TV broadcast.<\/p>\n Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack<\/a> and YouTube<\/a> for even more coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephen Colbert\u2019s The Late Show finale put CBS atop the late-night ratings charts. His replacement\u2019s premiere plummeted them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":669640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49565,120217,88,18040,10674],"class_list":["post-669639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-byron-allen","tag-comics-unleashed","tag-entertainment","tag-jimmy-fallon","tag-stephen-colbert"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a92aad8069a0fef365060d0680663300.jpeg\"\/)
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