Viewers angry over CBS's cancellation of Stephen Colbert's "The Late Show" are making their displeasure known, with Byron Allen's replacement program "Comics Unleashed" hemorrhaging more than half its audience — as competitors Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon capitalize on the exodus.
According to The Daily Beast, the viewership just days after CBS pulled the plug on Colbert tells a devastating story for the network's late-night strategy.
Kimmel's show experienced a dramatic surge, drawing 2.185 million total viewers on June 1—a 53-percent year-on-year increase. In the coveted 18-49 demographic, ABC's late-night leader captured an eye-popping 295,000 viewers, representing a staggering 178-percent increase from the same night last year.
Fallon's "Tonight Show" came in a distant second with 1.301 million total viewers, though that was still a respectable 10-percent year-over-year increase. The NBC program pulled in 194,000 viewers in the 18-49 demo, a 14-percent improvement from last year.
CBS, meanwhile, cratered. Allen's "Comics Unleashed," which debuted a day after Colbert's departure, drew only 628,000 total viewers — a catastrophic 65-percent drop compared to the same time slot last year. In the crucial 18-49 demographic, the show managed just 82,000 viewers, according to the Beast report.
The report notes the financial structure of Allen's arrangement insulates CBS from the direct financial damage. Under a "time buy" deal, Allen purchased the 11:35 p.m. time slot directly from CBS and covers all production costs while retaining the right to sell advertising himself. That arrangement means Allen—not the network—absorbs the financial consequences of the poor ratings.
A source told The Daily Beast that this model actually benefits CBS by allowing the network to program the late-night slot without exposure to audience and advertiser volatility, even as the show itself collapses into irrelevancy.