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Jimmy Kimmel’s Return Sees Initial Ratings Surge, Followed by Significant Decline
Jimmy Kimmel’s highly anticipated return to television following a brief suspension initially drew a substantial audience, but his late-night program, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, subsequently experienced a sharp drop in viewership.
The comedian made his televised comeback on Tuesday, September 23, following an announcement from Disney the previous day. His return broadcast garnered a remarkable 6.26 million viewers.
This initial success occurred despite the show not being aired in nearly 23% of U.S. television households at the time, as Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which own several ABC Television affiliates, had not yet joined Disney in reinstating the program. These media groups announced they would resume broadcasting Kimmel’s show on Friday, September 26.
Despite the strong start, which saw Kimmel’s opening monologue alone reportedly accumulate over 26 million views across YouTube and other social platforms, the live viewership quickly diminished. By Thursday of that week, the show’s audience had reportedly plummeted to an average of 2.3 million viewers, representing a 64 percent decrease from its return episode.
Prior to the brief suspension, *Jimmy Kimmel Live! * had averaged approximately 1.77 million viewers during the second quarter of this year.
Kimmel’s late-night show was put on hold following controversial comments he made regarding right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk and Tyler Robinson, the individual suspected of killing Kirk. On his Monday, September 15 broadcast, Kimmel stated, “We had some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
These remarks prompted a strong reaction, including from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who labeled Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” during a podcast appearance on Wednesday, September 17, and urged broadcasters to take action. In response to this criticism, Nexstar and Sinclair initially announced they would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! before ABC ultimately suspended the program.
Since his return to the air, Kimmel’s program has been filming in Brooklyn, New York. This marks his seventh time hosting from the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with the current Brooklyn week commencing on Monday, September 29, and scheduled to conclude on Friday, October 3.
During a Brooklyn episode on Tuesday, September 30, Kimmel welcomed fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert. Kimmel revealed that he was attending a “No Kings” protest – demonstrations against Donald Trump held across the U.S. on his birthday, June 14 – when he learned of the news concerning Colbert’s own late-night show cancellation.