Despite End of Writers’ Strike, Late Night Shows Still Struggling

The five-month-long writers’ strike, which halted all production of late-night programs, came to a conclusion in late September.

HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight were the first to immediately return. The long hiatus did slightly depressed the viewerships of their respective initial telecasts, as compared to their last weeks on the air prior to the strike:

Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

• Fri. 4/14/2023: 835,000 viewers; 163,000 adults 25-54
• Fri. 4/21/2023: 716,000 viewers; 142,000 adults 25-54
• Fri. 4/28/2023: 800,000 viewers; 136,000 adults 25-54
• Fri. 9/29/2023: 686,000 viewers; 111,000 adults 25-54
• Fri. 10/6/2023: 690,000 viewers; 78,000 adults 25-54
• Fri. 10/13/2023: 696,000 viewers; 93,000 adults 25-54
• Fri. 10/20/2023: 637,000 viewers; 96,000 adults 25-54

Last Week Tonight (HBO)

• Sun. 4/16/2023: 500,000 viewers; 126,000 adults 25-54
• Sun. 4/23/2023: 463,000 viewers; 148,000 adults 25-54
• Sun. 4/30/2023: 464,000 viewers; 148,000 adults 25-54
• Sun. 10/1/2023: 321,000 viewers; 115,000 adults 25-54
• Sun. 10/8/2023: 328,000 viewers; 94,000 adults 25-54
• Sun. 10/15/2023: 396,000 viewers; 114,000 adults 25-54
• Sun. 10/22/2023: 360,000 viewers; 82,000 adults 25-54

One big caveat to these declines is that April 2023 was a highly newsworthy month that featured Donald Trump‘s first indictment and arraignment. A similar trend occurred with the return of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

The Daily Show (Comedy Central)

• Al Franken 3/20-23/2023: 438,000 viewers; 112,000 adults 25-54
• John Leguizamo 3/27-30/2023: 384,000 viewers; 110,000 adults 25-54
• Roy Wood Jr. 4/3-6/2023: 425,000 viewers; 109,000 adults 25-54
• Michael Kosta 10/16-19/2023: 323,000 viewers; 105,000 adults 25-54
• Desus Nice 10/23-26/2023: 268,000 viewers; 95,000 adults 25-54

Wood Jr. has since departed The Daily Show. 

We had previously reported that the week hosted by Hasan Minhaj, another former correspondent of the program, had delivered the best demos of the guest hosts thus far. He would have been a frontrunner to take over as permanent host but a recent New Yorker article indicated almost all of “real-life” stories uttered in his stand-up comedy were fabricated 

The weeknight late-night programs – which regularly joke about the day’s current events – also came back on Oct. 2. Once again, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS is the top network show in late-night Mondays through Fridays in total viewers.

It’s also a force in delayed viewing – its first full week back (Oct. 2-6) averaged 2.79 million viewers in live +3 data, according to Nielsen Media Research, which is 1 million more viewers than runner-up Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC. Colbert added 809,000 viewers within three days of viewing of each of its original telecasts – the show’s largest lift from live plus same day in over five years.

Because of ABC’s recent decision to simulcast ESPN’s Monday Night Football on a weekly basis, Kimmel has benefited by even topping Colbert on Monday nights in both viewers and key demos. In addition, Kimmel has taken the key, 18-49 demo crown from NBC’s Fallon.

For the week of October 23-27, 2023, in Nielsen’s live plus same-day data:

• Colbert (CBS): 1.811 million viewers; 172,000 adults 18-49 (Oct. 23-26)
• Kimmel (ABC): 1.487 million viewers; 232,000 adults 18-49
• Fallon (NBC): 1.259 million viewers; 215,000 adults 18-49
• Meyers (NBC): 0.765 million viewers; 138,000 adults 18-49 (Oct. 23-26)

Cable news averages for October 9-15, 2023:

Total Day (Oct. 9-15 @ 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m.)

• Fox News Channel: 1.587 million viewers; 220,000 adults 25-54
• MSNBC: 0.776 million viewers; 94,000 adults 25-54
• CNN: 0.688 million viewers; 151,000 adults 25-54
• Newsmax: 0.220 million viewers; 25,000 adults 25-54
• HLN: 0.130 million viewers; 37,000 adults 25-54
• Fox Business Network: 0.114 million viewers; 11,000 adults 25-54
• CNBC: 0.108 million viewers; 24,000 adults 25-54
• The Weather Channel: 0.076 million viewers; 15,000 adults 25-54
• NewsNation: 0.076 million viewers; 12,000 adults 25-54

Prime Time (Oct. 9-14 @ 8-11 p.m.; Oct. 15 @ 7-11 p.m.)

• Fox News Channel: 2.245 million viewers; 286,000 adults 25-54
• MSNBC: 1.101 million viewers; 122,000 adults 25-54
• CNN: 0.810 million viewers; 196,000 adults 25-54
• Newsmax: 0.300 million viewers; 35,000 adults 25-54
• NewsNation: 0.108 million viewers; 20,000 adults 25-54

Top 10 most-watched cable news programs (and the top programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) in total viewers:

1. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 10/11/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.519 million viewers

2. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.448 million viewers

3. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 10/13/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.248 million viewers

4. The Five (FOXNC, Tue. 10/10/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.247 million viewers

5. The Five (FOXNC, Thu. 10/12/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.236 million viewers

6. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.043 million viewers

7. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Tue. 10/10/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 3.001 million viewers

8. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 10/10/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.880 million viewers

9. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.844 million viewers

10. America Reports (FOXNC, Tue. 10/10/2023 2:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.815 million viewers

44. Rachel Maddow Show “War in Israel” (MSNBC, Mon. 10/9/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 2.115 million viewers

142. CNN News Central (CNN, Tue. 10/10/2023 2:00 PM, 60 min.) 1.142 million viewers

291. Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, Fri. 10/13/2023 10:01 PM, 60 min.) 0.696 million viewers

388. Weather Channel Live “Live Coverage: Solar Eclipse” (TWC, Sat. 10/14/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.455 million viewers

408. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 10/15/2023 11:06 PM, 35 min.) 0.396 million viewers

438. Kudlow (FBN, Tue. 10/10/2023 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.321 million viewers

457. Forensic Files (HLN, late Wed. 10/11/2023 12:00 AM, 30 min.) 0.286 million viewers

472. Fast Money Halftime Report (CNBC, Mon. 10/9/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.270 million viewers

566. Cuomo (NWSN, Thu. 10/12/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.194 million viewers

Top 10 cable news programs (and the top  programs of other outlets with their respective associated ranks) among adults 25-54:

1. The Five (FOXNC, Wed. 10/11/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.450 million adults 25-54

2. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.422 million adults 25-54

3. Hannity (FOXNC, Tue. 10/10/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.407 million adults 25-54

4. The Five (FOXNC, Fri. 10/13/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.394 million adults 25-54

5. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 10/11/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.380 million adults 25-54

6. America Reports (FOXNC, Fri. 10/13/2023 1:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.370 million adults 25-54

7. The Five (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 5:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.369 million adults 25-54

8. Jesse Watters Primetime (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.369 million adults 25-54

9. Hannity (FOXNC, Wed. 10/11/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.359 million adults 25-54

10. Hannity (FOXNC, Mon. 10/9/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.352 million adults 25-54

32. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN, Tue. 10/10/2023 8:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.305 million adults 25-54

154. Alex Wagner Tonight “War in Israel” (MSNBC, Tue. 10/10/2023 9:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.181 million adults 25-54

318. Last Week Tonight (HBO, Sun. 10/15/2023 11:06 PM, 35 min.) 0.114 million adults 25-54

343. Forensic Files (HLN, Wed. 10/11/2023 11:30 PM, 30 min.) 0.099 million adults 25-54

357. Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO, Fri. 10/13/2023 10:01 PM, 60 min.) 0.093 million adults 25-54

433. Weather Channel Live “Live Coverage: Solar Eclipse” (TWC, Sat. 10/14/2023 12:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.073 million adults 25-54

488. Closing Bell (CNBC, Mon. 10/9/2023 3:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.060 million adults 25-54

630. Banfield (NWSN, Wed. 10/11/2023 10:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.035 million adults 25-54

665. Kudlow (FBN, Fri. 10/13/2023 4:00 PM, 60 min.) 0.031 million adults 25-54

Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research