New poll reveals Colbert is alienating Republican viewers

Stephen Colbert's Late Show has been heavily focused on politics and a new poll suggests that's hurting CBS in the ratings.

The Hollywood Reporter recently talked with 1,000 late-night viewers aged 18 to 65 and they found that Colbert is drawing in significantly fewer Republican viewers than his competitors on NBC and ABC.

According to the poll, 47 percent of Colbert viewers are Democrats while just 17 percent are Republicans. That's a massive gap, especially considering Jimmy Fallon's audience consists of 36 percent Democrats and 31 percent Republicans and Jimmy Kimmel's audience is 34 percent Democrats and 33 percent Republicans.

The poll also reveals that Colbert isn't attracting as many of David Letterman's old viewers as CBS would have liked. Among those surveyed, nearly 50 percent of Letterman fans have gone over to Jimmy Fallon, while only 15 percent of them have stayed with Colbert. On the other hand, Colbert has brought over many of Jon Stewart's followers from Comedy Central to CBS, far more than have stayed with Trevor Noah at The Daily Show.

Additionally, the poll clearly demonstrates that Jimmy Fallon appeals to the broadest audience because he is seen as being less partisan. About 43 percent of viewers described Colbert as opinionated, while only 20 percent said the same of Fallon. Another 47 percent also said they'd like to have a beer with Fallon, while just 22 percent picked Colbert.

Overall, then, the takeaway is that Colbert's political segments are alienating a huge percentage of his viewers, which wouldn't be as big of an issue if he wasn't falling to third place in the ratings. Might CBS force the comedian to scale back his election coverage in order to appeal to a larger demographic?

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 on CBS.