According to the latest AP/Norc poll of 1,182 adults, 76% of Democrats have watched clips or highlights from a late-night talk or variety show in the past year; 65% say they watched all or most of late-night show.
In comparison, 57% of independents and 52% of Republicans watched clips, while 52% of independents and only 35% of Republicans say they watched all or most of a show.
Considering that they have become little more than target practice on Trump's character, Curtis Houck of Media Research Center says those numbers are an open secret among media critics.
"There's a reason that a lot of us say that it's late-night group therapy for liberals," he tells American Family News.
Houck says liberal ideas do not stand up to criticism, so liberals like to avoid opposing ideas.
"They want to feel validated," he summarizes. "They don't want to be challenged, because at the end of the day, people don't like being challenged, I mean, unless you're someone like Charlie Kirk, who really enjoyed that kind of thing."
There has been a steady decline in traditional viewership of the big late-night shows over the past decade. Viewership in the critical age range of 18-49 has declined more sharply than total viewers, with falls up to 80% over the last 10 years for some shows in that demographic.
Some attribute that to a general shift away from live entertainment.
With the exception of the conservative "Gutfeld!" on Fox, which appeals to an underrepresented niche and has seen gains in total viewers, liberal shows like "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" have seen year-over-year viewership drops.
According to the New York Post, Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show was losing viewers before Disney-owned ABC suspended him for his comments on Charlie Kirk's assassination.
His ratings dropped to just 1.1 million total viewers in August 2025, down 43% from January's 1.95 million. His August household rating of 0.35 marked the weakest showing of the year.
