Going into the premiere of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the big question has been whether Colbert could retain Letterman's audience while also bringing in a younger crowd. Well, the ratings are in, and The Late Show had a rather impressive premiere, even if it fell a bit behind some other late show debuts.
According to Deadline, about 6.6 million people tuned into The Late Show With Stephen Colbert last night, and Colbert's debut received a 1.39 rating. That's a massive step up from his competition during the same time slot on September 8: Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show earned 2.92 million viewers, and Jimmy Kimmel Live earned 1.75 million. The premiere is also a significant increase in viewership from Colbert's final Colbert Report episode, which received 4.1 million viewers last December.
However, Colbert's debut wasn't quite as impressive as some other late night pilots in recent memory. The first episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon brought in 11.3 million viewers in February 2014. It should be noted, though, that Fallon did have a significant advantage seeing as his first episode aired right after the Olympics that night. Colbert's Late Show was also down from David Letterman's final episode, which was watched by 13.76 million viewers, but that was definitely much bigger of an event with dozens of stars.
Still, the ratings for the premiere were rather impressive, while not completely shattering the records. The episode, which featured George Clooney, Jeb Bush, and a brilliant bit about Donald Trump and Oreos, is helping CBS.com experience its highest website traffic ever, indicating that a lot of Colbert's audience is more likely to watch the episode online the next day than tune in live.
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35.
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