Ratings For Jason Kelce's Late-Night Show On ESPN Were Not Good
01/07/2025 10:15 AM
It may be safe to say at this point that the fan fever for Jason Kelce isn't quite what it's at for his younger brother Travis.
In an effort to capitalize on Jason Kelce's popularity, ESPN gave the former Philadelphia Eagles center his own late-night show on their network, "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce." But despite his immense presence on his New Heights podcast, ESPN's NFL coverage and a slew of other projects, that popularity didn't manifest into ratings.
According to sports media insider John Ourand, the numbers for the first episode of his new job were very underwhelming. Ourand reported that just 290,000 people tuned in.
"I've seen the numbers for ESPN's first episode of "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce," and they're not particularly good: 290,000 viewers," Ourand wrote.
I've seen the numbers for ESPN's first episode of "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce," and they're not particularly good: 290,000 viewers.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) January 6, 2025
In a follow-up report, Ourand noted that it might not matter much to ESPN in the long run as Kelce's show is only slated for five episodes and programming in that timeslot rarely does great to begin with.
"Comps are tough. Two weeks ago, that time slot had more than 700,000 viewers. But that figure was inflated by the Indiana-Notre Dame playoff game earlier in the night. Same time period last January averaged 436,000," Ourand added.
"From ESPN's perspective, viewership numbers from a late-night talk show that has a five-episode run don't matter nearly as much as other aspects of this programming deal. ESPN is happy to be in business with Jason Kelce, regardless."
Fans in the comments were more than happy to diagnose the ratings problem themselves, which was summarized into one word: Oversaturation.
"Not surprised. One word: Oversaturation Jason is a super nice person but he's being forced on the audience everywhere (probably against his will). Even the NFL commentating stuff is a bit much. Anything ppl truly need and want to hear Jason say - they will just tune into an unfiltered uncensored podcast with Travis and him," one user replied.
"Because he's already jumped the shark. Kelce overexposure is absolutely real," wrote another.
"overexposed — too much, too fast," a third wrote.
Timing is everything, as they say. Perhaps between the late night time slot and a bit of overexposure, Kelce is getting a bit ahead of himself.
Do you feel any fatigue from seeing Jason Kelce on screen?
Related: Jason Kelce Receives Advice From Jimmy Kimmel Before Late-Night Show Debuts
