Stephen Colbert finally beats Jimmy Fallon in late night ratings

Stephen Colbert has surged to the top spot in the late night ratings for the first time since 2015.

This seems to be the year of droughts coming to an end. The Chicago Cubs erased a 108-year old curse by winning the World Series, ushering in the year of the underdog. Cubs fan Stephen Colbert has ended a drought of his own, successfully sticking it to all of his haters.

Colbert and Late Show pulled in the most overall viewers last week, making it the first time since 2015 that the host bested rival Jimmy Fallon. If you don’t remember, September 2015 is when Colbert took over Late Show following David Letterman’ exit back in May.

It’s not a clean sweep for Colbert, however. He won the overall ratings game by pulling in 2.77 million but was ethered by Fallon in the key 18-49 demographic. Still, for all the hate he’s received over the years, Colbert is on top and no one can take that away.

Here’s a gander at the late night ratings for last week:

A lot of people are attributing the rise of Colbert in the ratings to his relentless Donald Trump trolling. Colbert was at his best when he was playing a republican character on The Colbert Report, and it’s not shocking that his political commentary on Late Show has brought about an uptick in his ratings.

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This doesn’t mean that Late Show will go fully political, but it’s been something that people want out of the late night host and it’s something he needs to continue delivering. While Trump jokes alone won’t sustain Colbert as the top late night show on television, it’s a feather in his cap that he needs to keep twirling and reinforcing if he wants to remain on top.