“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Posted Its Largest Audience since 2021 and “After Midnight” Scored Its Most-Watched Episode Ever

TRACKER’s post-Super Bowl series premiere amassed 18.4 million viewers and was the most-watched primetime entertainment program since the 2021 debut of THE EQUALIZER also following the Super Bowl. Based on L+3 playback and the upcoming encore episode (Thursday, Feb. 15, 10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) estimates, this number is projected to pass 25 million viewers or more by the end of the week.

In late night, THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT with guests John Krasinski, Ryan Gosling and a special appearance by Jon Stewart posted its largest audience since 2021. AFTER MIDNIGHT with guests Wayne Brady, Maria Bamford and Kevin Smith scored its most-watched episode ever.

TRACKER

• TRACKER (11:14 PM, ET/8:14 PM, PT) posted the largest debut (18.4m) for any new series since the 2021 post-Super Bowl premiere of CBS’ THE EQUALIZER (10:39 PM, ET). Note: TRACKER’s start time of 11:14 PM, ET is the latest start time for a post-Super Bowl program ever.

• The new drama was up +16% from last year’s post-Super Bowl program, “Next Level Chef” (15.85m on FOX, 2/12/23).

• Delivered more viewers than any primetime entertainment program this season.

• On social, TRACKER amassed over 130 million potential social impressions.*

LATE NIGHT

• THE LATE SHOW with STEPHEN COLBERT(start time 12:50 AM, ET/9:50 PM, PT) averaged 3.74 million viewers, the show’s largest Live+SD audience since the post-Super Bowl broadcast on February 7, 2021 at 12:14 AM, ET/9:14 PM, PT. Note: The start time of 12:50 AM, ET is the latest start time for a post-Super Bowl late-night show ever.

• AFTER MIDNIGHT (start time 1:52 AM, ET/10:52 PM, PT) with guests Wayne Brady, Maria Bamford and Kevin Smith scored its most-watched episode ever with 2.03 million viewers.

Note: Streaming data is not yet available for TRACKER, THE LATE SHOW and AFTER MIDNIGHT

Note: Viewership figures are based on Nielsen Final National data. Live+3 Day ratings will be available Friday, 2/16 (barring Nielsen delays).

*Potential Impressions are the estimated number of people who might have viewed posts related to this topic. NetBase calculates potential impressions based on followers/fans of original posts and followers/fans of engagements.

CBS Ratings Contact:

TRACKER CBS Publicist Contacts:

Late Night CBS Publicist Contacts: