The late night schedule was reworked a little again this fall after David Letterman left and Stephen Colbert took over the reigns on The Late Show. Sometimes newcomers manage to shake up the game, but a few months into the fall schedule, it looks like Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show are going to remain king. In fact, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is quietly getting more and more popular. Tuesday’s episode was actually the highest-rated episode the series has seen in the past 10 months. Take that, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.
A new report this morning indicates that The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon garnered a 3.4 rating in the 56 metered market households that are studied in the US. NBC’s statement doesn’t point this part out, but that’s totally kicking ass against the competition. Tuesday night’s airing of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert brought in a 1.9 rating in the metered markets. Jimmy Kimmel Live! came in at third place with a 1.7 rating. Fallon’s been beating out the other late night hosts for some time, so this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise for those keeping tabs on the numbers. However, the fact that Fallon’s numbers hit a 10-month high is more impressive.
NBC’s late night game is wholly on point right now. Late Night with Seth Meyers is also doing well in the ratings, and NBC says Tuesday's episode was quite a good one for the show, as Seth Meyers’ late night program actually managed to tie Kimmel’s with a 1.7 in the metered market households. That’s not too shabby for a show that airs an hour later when a lot of individuals have gone to bed.
Of course, one of the reasons Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers may have gotten a boost last night was that the new late night episodes coincided with the Season 9 finale of NBC’s The Voice. While that show is not as prominent on NBC as it once was, it still does quite well in the ratings over at the network. While the numbers dropped 12%, the show still did more than 12 million total viewers, which is pretty impressive. And since the show aired at 9 p.m. ET instead of the traditional 8 p.m. ET slot, it’s easy to see how those ratings could have held when late night came around.
Even if Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers should be thanking The Voice somewhat for the tick up in numbers, both shows are doing well even without the support of the singing competition series. Fallon has been growing more and more popular since he first took over The Tonight Show timeslot. His celebrity games, generally positive demeanor and ability to go viral on a more frequent basis have all contributed to setting him apart from his competitors and we don't see this slowing down anytime soon.
Luckily for the other late night hosts, Fallon isn't particularly cocky about his position and is keen to compete rather than try to destroy his other late night hosts. Which is probably why we like him so much in the first place.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs on weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET. In addition, here's what is coming up at midseason.
