The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has grown its audience of adults aged 18 to 49 by 34 per cent in the first three weeks since returning for the new season, compared with the same period last year, according to figures reported exclusively by TheWrap. Total viewership is up 3 per cent over the same stretch, with the numbers covering both linear and streaming audiences.
The NBC show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, continues to lean heavily on its online reach. It has more than 127 million subscribers and followers across social platforms, and its videos have been viewed more than 8 billion times in the past 12 months. TheWrap reports that it remains the most popular late-night talk show on social media, where monologue segments and sketches are widely shared as short clips.
The gains come during a period of upheaval in the format. The Late Show With Stephen Colbert ended in May after 11 seasons, leaving The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! as the two main shows that compete directly in the 11:35pm slot on the East and West Coasts. Before Colbert’s exit, all three shows went head to head in that hour. Kimmel has also been doing well. It averaged about 2 million total viewers a week across the 2025 to 2026 season, its most-watched year in eight seasons, and since returning this autumn it has posted its strongest numbers among adults aged 18 to 49 in four years.
NBC’s other late-night offering, Late Night With Seth Meyers, airs an hour later at 12:35am and is not treated as a direct rival to the two flagship shows. The Tonight Show is produced by Universal Television, part of Universal Studio Group, and Broadway Video. Lorne Michaels serves as executive producer, while Chris Miller is showrunner and also produces with Fallon and Gerard Bradford.
New episodes air at 11:35pm on NBC and stream the following day on Peacock. The show is also set to produce four more specials tied to Sunday Night Football this season, extending its presence around NBC’s biggest live sports broadcasts. No executives commented on the figures, which TheWrap presented as part of its own reporting rather than an official network release. TheWrap has also published a column examining how the late-night ratings picture has changed since Colbert’s departure.
