It’s been seven straight weeks now and The Late Show is showing no signs of giving up the top ratings spot on late night TV. Stephen Colbert’s average 3.2 million viewers bested Fallon’s Tonight Show haul of 3.1 million viewers. Thanks to interruptions from March Madness, Colbert aired repeats last Thursday and Friday, but even with just the three-night average his advantages could not be overcome.
We all know the reason for the surge: politics. The Late Show is getting its best ratings since 2015 and now that The Late Show has been hammering home Donald Trump every single night, the ratings should stay as long as Donald Trump remains relevant. Hahahaha. Read that sentence again. As long as Donald Trump remains relevant. As if I needed to write that the President of the United States remains relevant.
For a few weeks people have been saying that Jimmy Fallon is feeling the pressure of Colbert’s ratings surge and that The Tonight Show would start to get more political. However, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. Isn’t there room for both of them? Let these guys do what they do best and if one guy is number one for one week and the other guy is number one another week, who cares?
I know it doesn’t work that way with the networks but it’s not like either of these guys are getting fired anytime soon. Honestly this is just a pissing contest. Both shows are popular. Both hosts are great. Both hosts are multi-millionaires. Let them do their things and be great at what they’re great at. Colbert is great at politics and Fallon is great at being weird and having fun with guests. Plenty of room for both. When Trump isn’t President anymore Fallon can have his cake and eat it too.
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