As late-night host Stephen Colbert was comparing the Capitol Hill rioters to the Taliban this week, Greg Gutfeld over at Fox News was overtaking him in the ratings with his late-night show Gutfeld.
“Fox News’ 11 p.m. ET Gutfeld! finally beat every other late-night show — including Stephen Colbert’s Late Show on CBS — Tuesday in total viewership and the advertiser-coveted age demographic of 25 to 54,” reports The Wrap. “When the right-leaning program debuted in April, host Greg Gutfeld and his promotional team made no secret of their ambition to overtake late-night rivals, but Colbert blocked him from the top spot.”
Tuesday night, Gutfeld! earned 2.120 million viewers, 434,000 of which were in the coveted 25 to 54 year-old demographic. Conversely, Colbert’s The Late Show pulled in an average of 1.896 million total viewers, 423,000 of which were in the key demographic. Jimmy Fallon came in third place with 1.216 million viewers and 354,000 in the demographic. Colbert, however, still dominated in the precious 18-49 demographic, earning 322,000 viewers versus Gutfeld’s 281,000.
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While the significance of Gutfeld! overtaking Colbert cannot be overstated, its ratings were undoubtedly affected by the fact it airs at 11 p.m. on the east coast and 8 p.m. on the west coast while its late-night competitor’s air at 11 p.m. in both time zones.
Gutfeld! has been a ratings champion in late-night television since it launched in April, beating out Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Maher, and Trevor Noah in its first week.
“Gutfeld!, which stars long-time The Five co-host Greg Gutfeld, drew an average of 1.57 million viewers in its first five episodes last week,” reported Breitbart at the time. “The show easily beat the Tonight Show, which averaged 1.38 million viewers and HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, with 1.08 million.”
“The show also outpaced Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and TBS’ Conan,” it added.
Following the fall of Kabul in Afghanistan this past weekend, Colbert used the moment to compare the Capitol Hill rioters to the Taliban.
“Why should our soldiers be fighting radicals in a Civil War in Afghanistan? We’ve got our own on Capitol Hill,” the comedian said.