Fox News’s late-night political comedy show, Gutfeld!, topped Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show in average total viewers last week and scored its highest-rated week to date while continuing to draw a surprisingly diverse audience.

The success of the right-leaning, flame-throwing comedy from Greg Gutfeld has coincided with the decline of traditional late-night comedy programs as broadcast networks compete with streaming in the ever-changing media landscape.

Gutfeld! is not a traditional late-night show, as it airs 30 minutes earlier than Colbert on the East Coast and at 10 p.m. central and 8 p.m. on the West Coast as the show airs live.

Colbert and his traditional late-night competitors, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, do air at 11:35 p.m. across the country, which gives Gutfeld an advantage. However, broadcast networks like Colbert’s CBS are in millions more homes across the country and are free.

Gutfeld topped Colbert last week, August 8th through the 12th, with an average of 2.35 million total viewers and 397,000 viewers in the key 25054 age demographic. The win marks the third time since its launch that Gutfeld! won a week over Colbert.

During the same period, Colbert averaged 2.14 million total viewers and 373,000 demo viewers. Fallon came in third with 1.32 million total viewers and 372,000 demo viewers, while Kimmel had 1.08 million total viewers and 264,000 demo viewers.

Gutfeld’s comedy leaned in heavily on covering the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Florida estate and was boosted by Fox News’s prime time line-up averaging over 3 million total viewers multiple days last week.

The news cycle helped Gutfeld! score its highest-rate week to date as the show continued to attract a diverse audience. The show has increased viewership in the time slot for Fox News by 43% in terms of total viewers and 17% in the demo since its launch some 16 months ago.

Nielsen MRI Fusion data from June 2022 found that the show has more Democrats and Independents tuning in than any program on CNN. Additionally, Nielsen media research noted that Gutfeld’s audience has the highest median income in total viewers and the demo among all late-night programs – broadcast and cable.

The post Gutfeld! Continues to Climb in the Ratings, Topped Colbert in Total Viewers Last Week first appeared on Mediaite.

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