ABC's JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE Beats 'Colbert' for First Time Ever

By: Nov. 12, 2015
Get Access To Every Broadway Story

Unlock access to every one of the hundreds of articles published daily on BroadwayWorld by logging in with one click.




Existing user? Just click login.

With its late-night lineup of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" at 11:35 p.m. and "Nightline" at 12:35 a.m. during the week of November 2, 2015, ABC was the No. 1 network in late-night in Total Viewers (2.334 million), outdrawing NBC by 7% (2.173 million) and beating CBS for the 4th-straight week (+30% - 1.801 million).

ABC scored its 2nd-best performance in late-night this season, with gains over the prior week of 8% in Total Viewers (2.334 million vs. 2.153 million) and 6% in Adults 18-49 (694,000 vs. 654,000).

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" (M-F 11:35 p.m.)
During the week of November 2, 2015, ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" beat CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" for the first time ever in the 9 weeks since the new CBS late-night talk show debuted in Total Viewers (+5% - 2.626 million vs. 2.492 million) and Adults 18-49 (+5% - 765,000 vs. 728,000). Despite airing a repeat telecast on Friday (versus a 5-day average of originals for "Colbert"), ABC's "Kimmel" was the week's No. 2 talk show in late-night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.

• "Kimmel" grew week to week by 10% in Total Viewers and by 6% in Adults 18-49 (2.395 million and 724,000, respectively, on w/o 10/26/15). In fact, ABC's "Kimmel" was the only 11:35 p.m. late-night talk show to build over the prior week in either Viewers or the Young Adult demo, as "Colbert" (-5%/-6%, respectively) and NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (-10%/-6%, respectively) turned in losses.

• On Thursday (11/5/15), featuring a visit by Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, "Kimmel" scored its most watched late-night telecast on any night (3.116 million) since an NBA finals-led telecast in June 6 months ago - since Thursday 6/11/15. And excluding the NBA finals-led broadcasts in June, Thursday's telecast drew "Kimmel's" largest audience for an original airing in late-night in more than 8 months - since Friday, 3/20/15.

"Nightline" (M-F 12:35 a.m.)
ABC's "Nightline" ranked No. 1 in its 12:35 a.m. time slot in Total Viewers (1.719 million) for the 3rd week in a row during the week of November 2, 2015, based on Live +Same Day Data from Nielsen Media Research. "Nightline" beat CBS' "The Late Late Show with James Corden" (1.155 million) by 564,000 and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.652 million) by 67,000. In fact, "Nightline" outperformed the CBS program by its largest-ever Total Viewer advantage.

In addition, "Nightline" outperformed CBS' "The Late Late Show with James Corden" by its biggest leads of the season in both Adults 25-54 (+233,000 - 688,000 vs. 455,000) and Adults 18-49 (+159,000 - 542,000 vs. 383,000).

For the 3rd-straight week, "Nightline" built on its week-ago numbers (1.628 million, 658,000 and 500,000 for w/o 10/26/15) in Total Viewers (+6%), Adults 25-54 (+5%) and Adults 18-49 (+8%), hitting new season highs. "Nightline" saw its most watched week in 8 months and best numbers in both key Adult demos in 5 months - since the weeks of 3/9/15, 6/8/15 and 6/15/15, respectively.

"Nightline"s Thursday airing (11/5/15) stood as the week's No. 1 12:35 a.m. telecast in Total Viewers (1.896 million), beating every telecast of the week of CBS' "The Late Late Show with James Corden" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers."


Late-Night (Week of Nov 2): TOTAL VIEWERS A18-49(000)
ABC 2,334,000 694,000
CBS 1,801,000 550,000
NBC 2,173,000 802,000

Please note: Due to Election Night coverage on Tuesday (11/3/15), all ABC programming was coded as a special and are excluded from the week's average.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Live + Same Day National Program Ratings for weeks of 11/2/15 & 10/26/15, or as dated. ABC Late-Night = "Kimmel" and "Nightline"; CBS Late-Night ="Colbert" and "Corden"; NBC Late-Night = "Fallon," "Seth Meyers" and "Carson Daly."



Videos