Colbert audience drops 44% in Night 2

Gary Levin | USA TODAY

That was fast!

CBS's Late Show with Stephen Colbert came down to earth Wednesday, shedding nearly 3 million viewers — and ranking second to NBC's Tonight Show — in its second night on the air.

Preliminary Nielsen estimates give the Late Show 3.7 million viewers, compared with 4.1 million for Tonight's Jimmy Fallon and 1.9 million for ABC's Jimmy Kimmel. That's down from a big 6.6 million for Colbert's extended Tuesday premiere. Fallon, whose Wednesday show show featured Justin Timberlake and Ellen DeGeneres, also had a 50% advantage among young-adult viewers. (Thursday's Tonight Show will likely be delayed by the opening game of the NFL season.)

It's not uncommon for new shows to get big samplings and then decline sharply. Fallon's February 2014 premiere, during the Olympics, averaged 11.3 million and then dropped, but not as quickly.