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

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CitrixNews Staff
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‘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

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Michael Schneider

Variety Editor at Large

franklinavenue See All The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and during Thursday’s May 21, 2026 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Scott Kowalchyk /CBS

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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Originally reported by Variety