Late-night TV and social media have been a perfect match over the past decade, with every show taking advantage of viral clips. One show in particular saw an incredible rise in viewership thanks to social media.
According to a report from TheWrap, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is the late-night TV leader when it comes to social media. The outlet states the NBC show saw a 55% rise in views across social media from June 1, 2024 to May 30, 2025, compared to the previous period.
That works out to a little over 9 billion views on social media platforms for Jimmy Fallon and his team. Part of the success stems from the 100 million followers it boasts across all social media. TikTok has been especially beneficial for The Tonight Show, where it has 24 million followers. The show has just under 19 million followers on Instagram.
So what is the secret to The Tonight Show's social media dominance? The key has been digital content made in collaboration with guests.
Nick Dyer, head of digital and supervising producer for The Tonight Show, explained to TheWrap how the show's digital strategy changed following COVID-19. With more guests in studio with Jimmy Fallon, more opportunities came up for creative content.
“Brick-by-brick, we’ve built more of a presence and more of trust,” Dyer said. “Our talent team books these amazing guests for projects that are absolutely massive, and when they come on the show, they get to do something fun. It’s not always just an interview. It’s a sketch, it’s a game, and the content with Jimmy and the guests inherently goes viral.”
Fallon made a splash when he first started hosting The Tonight Show by getting A-list celebrities to open up in new and exciting ways. Games were a big part of it, helping the show gain traction on Facebook and YouTube.
And as social media has evolved, so too has Fallon and The Tonight Show. Dyer and his team spend weeks in advance planning sketches and bits for guests with the goal of creating a viral moment.
"We plan weeks in advance for this stuff,” Dyer revealed. “We also only have a very short window to shoot with guests. They get here, they’ve got to get prepped for the interview. They have to get hair and makeup, they have to get camera ready, they have to get miked, and before you know it, the show’s about to start. We take time to prep for everything beforehand so when we have that five minute window to shoot with Jimmy and the talent, we’re ready to go.”
Fallon will never compete with the likes of Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Kimmel when it comes to political monologues. But the Tonight Show team knows this and instead found its lane on social media ... and it's only getting bigger.