Stephen Colbert Taking Advantage Of Jimmy Fallon's Alcoholic Problems In Ratings Race?
Will CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" ratings get ahead of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" following the latter's rumored alcohol problem?
Back in September, Stephen Colbert replaced David Letterman as "The Late Show's" host. According to an article written by Bill Carter for The Hollywood Reporter, Colbert debuted with high ratings but was upstaged the very next day when Fallon returned to his own show.
"Fallon beat him the second night - and 55 of the next 58 nights," Carter wrote. "During recent weeks, the gap has grown in the 18-to-49 demographic coveted by late-night advertisers."
Despite high ratings, rumors claim Jimmy Fallon is in danger of being dropped as the show's host due to alcohol problems. In fact, there are even rumors that he will be replaced by Chelsea Handler if gets suspended.
This isn't the first time Fallon has been linked to alcohol abuse. The SNL alum was even called a "high-functioning alcoholic" by a former colleague.
"They say that kind of goes hand in hand with SNL," Horatio Sanz told Vulture. "Some kind of substance-abuse issues, because it's so stressful you easily find yourself blowing off steam a lot."
Nevertheless, "The Late Night Show" is still leading in the battle for late night ratings.
According to TV By Numbers, Fallon's show raked in an audience of 3.09 million adult viewers, a massive lead over Stephen Colbert who only reached 2.50 million viewers.
Given Fallon's high ratings, it's highly unlikely that NBC would be suspending the host. NBC executive Bob Greenbelt even released a statement putting down the rumors of Fallon's alcoholism.
"He goes out and has fun," Greenbelt said in a statement published by Movie Pilot. "He's had some accidents. Aside from that, he's in better shape than he's ever been."
