‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Finale Attracts 6.74 Million Viewers, Its Most-Watched Weeknight Episode Of All Time

May 22, 2026 1:16pm PT ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ Finale Attracts 6.74 Million Viewers, Its Most-Watched Weeknight Episode Of All Time

By Michael Schneider

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Michael Schneider

Variety Editor at Large

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The series finale of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” pulled off the series’ most-watched weeknight episode of all time, according to early data from CBS. The Eye network reports that the finale of “The Late Show” posted 6.74 million viewers on Thursday night.

That’s up from the show’s 2026 Q1 average of 2.69 million viewers, per live+7 big data info. And it’s above “The Late Show” series premiere on Sept. 8, 2015, with averaged 6.55 million viewers.

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