With 2.5 Million Viewers, Fox News Channel’s ‘Gutfeld!’ Beats Every Show In Late Night TV

Something’s happening in late night. On Tuesday night, Fox News Channel’s Gutfeld! delivered a total audience of 2.5 million viewers, a staggering audience for a late-night show on cable, and the second biggest night in the history of Greg Gutfeld’s politics-and-comedy program.

With 2.494 million total viewers and 396,000 viewers in the key demographic group of adults 25-54, Gutfeld! beat not just everything else on cable, but the high-profile broadcast networks’ late night shows as well. CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was a close second with 2.1 million viewers and 375,000 viewers in the key demo, followed by NBC’s The Tonight Show (1.289 million viewers and 318,000 in the demo), and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live (1.285 million total viewers and 287,000 viewers in the key demo).

Compared to the late night shows on cable news, Gutfeld! was even more dominant, with MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle coming closest, delivering a total audience of 953,000 viewers and 94,000 viewers in the key demo. On CNN, CNN Tonight drew just 412,000 total viewers overall, but did better in the demo, beating MSNBC with 101,000 viewers. Comedy Central’s The Daily Show had a total audience of 443,000 viewers and 182,000 viewers in the key demo.

In an interview with Gutfeld! executive producer Tom O’Connor in September, I asked him what it was that he thought was drawing an audience to Fox News in late night. “Part of the reason for that is the audience has really connected with some of the new guests we’ve introduced them to, but also they’ve gotten to see some FNC stars let their hair down for an hour,” he told me.

For his part, Gutfeld has stuck to doing what he has done for several years in late night and as a regular fixture on Fox News Channel’s The Five: bring an edge to otherwise serious discussions of news and politics. “Viewers become fans when you buck the shared assumptions of the media about the world and level with your audience in real terms,” Gutfeld told me in an interview in 2019. “I think that’s been the key variable in the success of Fox News Channel…also, I am incredibly handsome.”