Colbert’s 'Late Show' Does 6.6 Million Viewers

Related: TV Review: 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert'

The premiere of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on CBS averaged 6.6 million viewers Sept. 8, according to Nielsen live plus same day fast national ratings. That won the time slot, ahead of The Tonight Show’s 2.9 million viewers on NBC and Jimmy Kimmel Live’s 1.75 million on ABC.

Sampling on CBS was sky-high, with viewers curious about how Colbert, former host of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, would deliver his first show. Colbert’s old Comedy Central pal, former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, made a cameo in The Late Show’s musical intro. In the inaugural episode, Colbert showed not only his comedic chops, but some song and dance and product pitchman skills too.

More to come.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.