There was no “truthiness” required to make the ratings for the first episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert look good.
Global Television’s return to late night was a success, with Colbert’s Tuesday debut attracting an average of 588,000 viewers 2+ according to overnight numbers from Numeris, making it the night’s top-rated late night talk show. The show also attracted 235,000 viewers in the A25-54 demographic.
The show marks Global Television’s first entry in the late night talk show wars since airing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2012.
The show is one of the most high-profile additions to the Global schedule, with Christine Shipton, senior vice-president and chief creative officer for network parent Shaw Media, telling Marketing it achieves the company’s goals of adding more comedy to its schedule while also attracting younger audiences.
Tuesday’s debut of The Late Show… was also the most-watched late night show in the U.S., attracting 6.6 million viewers to beat out established hosts including Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Meyers.
However, ratings for the show’s second night suggested that Colbert’s first night ratings were at least partly the result of audiences curious to see the new host, who replaced late night fixture David Letterman.
According to Entertainment Weekly, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon made major gains on Colbert among total viewers on Wednesday, while pulling ahead in the adults 18-49 demo.
While some familiar tropes from The Colbert Report did make their way to Colbert’s debut (he addressed his audience as “nation,” just like the old days, and did an extended bit about Donald Trump refusing to eat Oreos after Nabisco moved their production to Mexico that was straight out of his previous show), the debut also introduced viewers to a more conventional network host.
While an interview with George Clooney – who arrived with nothing to plug but his A-list status – was largely uninteresting, Colbert displayed some of his trademark wit during an interview with Republican candidate Jeb Bush, during which he asked how he differs from his brother George W. Bush and riffed on his campaign slogan, which is simply “Jeb!”
