Posted on 09/09/2015 12:02:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Stephen Colbert won his first outing as CBS’s new late-night host, as 6.6 million viewers tuned in late Tuesday night to watch “The Late Show.”
Mr. Colbert’s debut had about 3.6 million more viewers than Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show” and about 4.8 million more viewers than ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
Mr. Colbert also led in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic key to advertisers, drawing 1.4 million viewers compared with Mr. Fallon’s 900,000 and Mr. Kimmel’s 400,000. CBS hopes that he can retain many of the younger viewers who watched his Comedy Central political satire show, “The Colbert Report.”
Still, Mr. Colbert’s first episode did not do nearly as well as Mr. Fallon’s February 2014 debut, which drew 11.3 million viewers, benefiting partly from following NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage.
Mr. Colbert has gone to great lengths in the past few weeks to prove that he is friendly with his late-night competitors, and Mr. Fallon made a cameo Tuesday night. It was a strong contrast from David Letterman’s first episode on CBS in 1993, when he spent a good portion of his monologue bashing NBC, his former network. (The late-night landscape has changed significantly since Mr. Letterman’s debut, which had 15.2 million viewers.)
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They didn't even write good material for him.
Probably worth taping the YEB segment for use if you ever have trouble sleeping.
Is this Colbert any relation to Jon Leibowitz?
Only in spirit.
You mean he doesn’t know the difference between the debt and the deficit?
“I liked Conan O’Brien’s routine where he’d interview a big picture of a celebrity (like Arnold Schwarzenegger) where only the lips moved, a la Clutch Cargo.”
Especially when he did Bill Clinton!
LOL! Thanks for reminding me!
His most famous appearance was at the 2006 WH Correspondents Dinner. Wikipedia has a long account of it.
The MSM audience hated it, but according to the article, Judge Scalia (who was there) laughed heartily.
But for Bill Clinton..well maybe the was the start of his Monica fantasy
Of course his first show had high ratings. Check back in a year, if he’s still on, that is.
Watched the first 15 minutes or so; nothing to write home about (or stay up for, IMO).
Colbert is lucky in one sense: he inherited the #3 show in late night. From 1995 until his final month on the air, Letterman was never better than a distant second to Jay Leno, and often trailed “Nightline” as well (when it aired at 11:30). When Jimmy Kimmel moved to that time slot, he began beating Letterman as well. His only reprieve came when NBC made the worst mistake in TV programming history and gave the Tonight Show to Conan O’Brien. Once Leno returned, Letterman resumed his rightful place in the ratings cellar, and that pattern continued when Jimmy Fallon replaced Leno.
How does this help Colbert? He makes far less money than Letterman (who once pulled down $30 million a year), so production costs are lower. Meanwhile, CBS can charge as much for advertising as they did with Letterman, so their profits will increase. If Colbert tanks, the network’s buyout will be a fraction of what NBC paid O’Brien, and they’ll find someone else to sit behind the desk.
From what I saw last night, Fallon has nothing to worry about—and he couldn’t carry Johnny Carson’s microphone. Amazing how far the “talent level” in late night has fallen over the past 20 years.
I read a story today that stated that Carson earned 75 mil per year, in 2015 adjusted dollars. He was definitely the king.
How many viewers did The Apprentice get at its peak?
I think these night shows are jealous of Trump getting more viewers than them combined.
And NBC made something like $300 million a year on the Tonight Show during his tenure. Carson was worth every penny.
I saw the first half hour. It stank. Turned it off after he trashed Trump as ku klux klan racist.
GROSS: Colbert Launches Late Show with Donald Trump on Screen With KKK (Video)
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/09/gross-colbert-launches-late-show-with-donald-trump-on-screen-with-kkk-video/
Well, he HAS to be funnier than Letterman - of course, that’s like saying Joe Biden is more honest than Hillary Clinton....
Didn’t have to.
He was shown to be a really bad mideay carny act
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.