• by Wayne Friedman , December 28, 2018

End-of-the-year results for the highest broadcast late night TV viewing continue to show CBS’ “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” grabbing top honors -- with total yearly national ad revenue at $1.1 billion.

In season-to-date ratings through December 21 for three of the top 11:35 p.m. ET shows, “Late Show” is easily in the lead with 3.69 million average total viewers, followed by “Tonight” at 2.49 million and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at 2.1 million.

The race remains closer with younger 18-49 viewers: “Tonight” holds a 0.54 rating/4 share, followed by “Late Show” with 0.52/4 and “Kimmel” with 0.40/3. Each adult 18-49 rating point equals 1.29 million viewers.

Collectively, the three main 11:35 p.m. broadcast shows pull in $1.09 billion in national/regional TV advertising from December 27, 2017 through December 27, 2018, according to iSpot.tv -- virtually the same amount as in the year-earlier period.

Among other late-night broadcast shows, ABC’s “Nightline” at 12:35 p.m. is averaging 1.31 million viewers; NBC’s “Late Night” is at 1.5 million, and CBS' “The Late Late Show” comes in at 1.35 million. At 1:35 p.m., NBC’s “Last Call” has 773,000 viewers.

Looking at big late-night cable TV programs: Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” at 11 p.m. ET is averaging 637,000. Adult Swim at 11:30 p.m. ET has 914,000 viewers, and Adult Swim at 12:30 a.m. ET comes in at 727,000.