CBS’s announcement that it was canceling Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show”—after bleeding between $40 million and $50 million annually—should have been a wake-up call for the late-night industry. NBC, to its credit, seems to be catching on that alienating half the country is a losing formula, and that booking guests who appeal to both the left and right might actually draw viewers back.
That lesson became crystal clear last Thursday night, when Greg Gutfeld walked into Studio 6B at Rockefeller Center and pulled off something NBC executives can’t ignore. The Fox News host delivered Jimmy Fallon’s highest-rated “Tonight Show” episode of 2025, drawing 1.7 million viewers and giving the struggling program a staggering 57% ratings boost.
The momentum didn’t stop there. By Tuesday afternoon, the YouTube clip of Gutfeld’s appearance had racked up nearly 1 million views—the biggest hit on Fallon’s channel in almost a month. Meanwhile, the Jonas Brothers, who also appeared that night, managed a measly 138,000 YouTube views for their segment.
The numbers don’t lie. Gutfeld’s segment attracted 294,000 viewers in the coveted 25-54 demographic, marking a 13% increase from Fallon’s typical showing.
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The irony here is delicious. While Gutfeld was boosting NBC’s ratings, his own show “Gutfeld!” was being guest-hosted by Kat Timpf back on Fox News, yet still managed to dominate late-night with 2.7 million viewers—the highest audience across all networks that evening. This is the reality that legacy media refuses to acknowledge: Gutfeld consistently outperforms his NBC, CBS, and ABC competitors in total viewership, making him the undisputed king of late-night television.
What NBC witnessed Thursday night was a glimpse of late-night television’s possible future—one where talent trumps ideology and ratings reflect actual audience demand rather than media elite preferences. Gutfeld’s appearance didn’t just boost Fallon’s numbers; it exposed the fundamental weakness of an industry that has forgotten its primary mission: making people laugh.
That’s something that Stephen Colbert refused to do and why his show was losing millions of dollars. You can’t alienate half the country and be surprised when you get canceled. Colbert, of course, is not going down with dignity, he’s doubling down on crazy and claiming to be the victim of Trump-imposed censorship. Perhaps he could save his show from cancellation if he took the advice of Jay Leno.
“Why shoot for just half an audience all the time? You know, why not try to get the whole?” Leno said last month.
“I always felt it was my job to make the audience laugh, not to lecture them,” he continued, recalling how previous generations of comedians “never wanted to make half the country feel unwelcome in their own living rooms.”
Colbert’s downfall and Gutfeld’s triumph tell the same story: the era of smug, one-sided late-night comedy is collapsing under the weight of its own arrogance. Audiences are tired of being preached at and insulted for their politics, and they’re voting with their remotes.
The success of Gutfeld’s appearance on “The Tonight Show” should be a wake-up call for an entire industry that has lost its way.
When Greg Gutfeld can stroll into the heart of NBC and hand Fallon his best ratings in years—while still crushing him from his own Fox News perch—it’s not just a fluke. It’s proof that the market for genuine entertainment, free of sanctimonious lectures, is alive and well. If NBC has any sense, they’ll take the hint and book more guests who bring the laughs instead of partisan rants.
And if the rest of late-night keeps doubling down on ideological purity over broad appeal, they’ll follow Colbert into the ratings abyss.
The entertainment industry’s war on conservatives backfired spectacularly, and Gutfeld’s ratings triumph is just the beginning. PJ Media has been exposing this cultural shift while mainstream outlets buried the story to protect their failing allies. Get exclusive VIP access to the stories they don’t want you to see. And don’t forget to use promo code FIGHT for 60% off and help us fight the media’s stranglehold on truth. America’s awakening—be part of it.
