Entertainment Tonight Draws More Viewers as Access Hollywood Leaves the Air
Entertainment Tonight averaged 2.99 million viewers in the week of Oct. 5, according to Nielsen's live-plus-same-day ratings, which count people who watch a show as it airs or later that same day. The show was also the No. 1 syndicated newsmagazine that week. Syndicated means it is sold directly to local stations rather than shown by a network.
The week's audience was up 9% from the premiere week of the 2025 season, according to Variety. Over the first month of the new season, from Sept. 28 to Oct. 25, the show averaged 2.88 million viewers. That is up 8% from 2.67 million in the same stretch a year earlier.
The growth was sharpest among younger viewers. Its rating in adults 18 to 49, a group advertisers closely track, rose 37%, from 0.20 to 0.27. A rating is the share of a group that is watching. Among women 18 to 49, the rating climbed 38%, from 0.22 to 0.30. Among adults 25 to 54, it rose 23%, from 0.32 to 0.39, and among women 25 to 54, it rose 32%, from 0.36 to 0.47.
The gains come as the show's long-running neighbour in the entertainment news slot has gone. Access Hollywood ended its run on Sept. 11 after 30 seasons. NBCUniversal had announced in March that it would cancel Access Hollywood, along with the daytime talk show Karamo and The Steve Wilkos Show, as it left first-run syndication. First-run syndication means shows made for direct sale to stations, rather than bought from another network. NBCUniversal had also closed its first-run syndication division before Access Hollywood ended.
Entertainment Tonight is produced and distributed by CBS Media Ventures. Paramount's company filings list it as first-run syndicated programming. Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner co-host the show, and Cassie DiLaura, Denny Directo and Emily Curl serve as its correspondents.
The show's standing with industry voters has also held steady. It won its eighth straight Daytime Emmy for outstanding entertainment news series, and its 11th overall in that category.
The next measured figures will show whether the climb continues through the rest of the season.
