Jason Kelce's first ESPN late-night show hardly a hit

Jason Kelce has reason to be a bit glum.

His first episode of "They Call It Late Night With Jason Kelce" averaged a mere 290,000 viewers on ESPN, per Puck’s John Ourand.

That's not good.

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.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) January 6, 2025

But Ourand also adds:

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.
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) January 6, 2025

Most critics and viewers said it simply wasn't funny despite Kelce's personality and charm.

But nobody is going to feel sorry for him, especially after he and his brother Travis signed a huge payday (a reported $100 million) with Amazon for the exclusive rights to their hugely popular podcast "New Heights."

Plus, the show is only set for five episodes so he still has a few weeks to right the ship. Many may soon forget about it anyway.

There's also the factor that maybe the Kelce brothers are overexposed, doing too much and some are getting weary of their fame, antics and schtick.

Don't worry, Jason, you always have your wife to fall back on with her own massive podcast.

Even if the show continues to flop, we feel like you and your family will be fine.

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