Stephen Colbert's Tuesday night Late Show debut pulled in strong ratings that more than doubled those of his closest competitor, setting the comedian up for a promising future in late night television. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's inaugural episode, which featured guests Jeb Bush and George Clooney, averaged 6.55 million viewers — more than double the ratings of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (2.92 million) and nearly triple those of Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1.75 million).
The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Colbert's impressive first-night ratings came without any special lead-in — Fallon's first episode experienced a ratings surge thanks to a lead-in from the Winter Olympics.
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