Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night following his suspension saw his ratings triple and reach his largest audience in over a decade.
Monday’s episode, which still experienced a 23 percent preemption across the nation due to Kimmel’s remarks about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, attracted 6.26 million viewers to ABC.
Typically, Kimmel gets about 1.8 million viewers each night on television. The numbers released by ABC do not include viewership from streaming services.
The network also noted that Kimmel’s emotional, 20-minute monologue has been viewed over 25 million times on social media.
The over 15 million views the monologue has gotten on YouTube are a record for the program.
Among adults under 50 – late night’s most prized demographic – the episode was Kimmel’s most-watched since a show from March 2015 that followed ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards.
However, a spokesman for Nexstar said Wednesday that Kimmel will continue to be preempted from its stations while the company evaluates his show.
Together, the Nexstar and Sinclair groups account for about a quarter of ABC’s affiliates, many in smaller cities such as Nashville, Tennessee; Lubbock, Texas; or Topeka, Kansas.
Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night following his suspension saw his ratings triple and reach his largest audience in over a decade
Monday’s episode, which was still preempted in 23 percent of the country over Kimmel’s comments on the assassination of Charlie Kirk , drew 6.26 million viewers to ABC
‘We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at the (ABC parent) Walt Disney Co., with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve,’ Nexstar said.
The host gave a tearful 20-minute monologue in which he claimed he ‘never intended to make light of’ the MAGA icon’s death – and then proceeded to lash out at Donald Trump over censorship.
Kimmel’s late-night ABC show was yanked off air by Disney last week after he stated that Kirk’s killer was a Trump supporter. In reality, the assassin was a liberal who seethed with hatred at Kirk over his conservative, Christian ethics.
The host received a standing ovation as he told his audience: ‘A government threat to silence a comedian the government doesn’t like is anti-American.’
Kimmel acknowledged his employer of more than 20 years was taking an enormous risk in putting him back on TV.
‘Unfortunately, and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk,’ he said. ‘The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from their job.
‘Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.’
Kimmel broke down when discussing what he said about the assassination of Kirk – but he never once said he was sorry.
Among adults under 50 – late night’s most prized demographic – the episode was Kimmel’s most-watched since a show from March 2015 that followed ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards
‘I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,’ Kimmel said, his voice breaking.
‘I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.’
Kimmel singled out FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, saying his conduct was ‘not legal’ and ‘un-American’ after the chairman threatened to go after late night comics.
He then branded Carr’s threat against Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as not only ‘a direct violation of the first amendment’ but also ‘not a particularly intelligent threat.’
‘Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car Republicans have embraced since this one,’ Kimmel cracked, before showing a photo of a Trump-branded Tesla.
He thanked the people who supported him, and even people who don’t like him who stood up for his right to speak, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
‘It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration,’ he said. ‘They did and they deserve credit for it.’
He mocked Trump for criticizing him for bad ratings. ‘He tried his best to cancel me and instead he forced millions of people to watch this show,’ Kimmel said.
Kimmel welcomed actor Glenn Powell (pictured left) on his first show back
The president led the outrage before the show even began, threatening to sue the network for reinstating Kimmel on air and questioning why ‘ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.’
He wrote on Truth Social: ‘The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his “talent” was never there.
‘Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution.’
Robert De Niro appeared on the show on Tuesday, impersonating Carr being interviewed by Kimmel. De Niro, as Carr, said the FCC had a new motto, ‘sticks and stones can break your bones.’
‘Isn’t there more to the saying,’ Kimmel asked, ‘that words can never hurt you?’
‘They can hurt you now,’ De Niro responded, saying you have to make sure to say the right ones.
During his monologue, Kimmel tried to explain what he said about the TPUSA founder but did not directly apologize.
He said it was not ‘my intention to blame any specific group for the actions what – it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,’ he said.
During his monologue, Kimmel tried to explain what he said about the TPUSA founder but did not directly apologize
‘That was really in the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.’
He referenced expecting sky high ratings for his segment after Trump suggested he had ‘no ratings’: ‘Well, I do tonight!’
‘[Trump] tried his best to cancel me, instead he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now,’ Kimmel added.
Kimmel took the stage to a long standing ovation and chants of ‘Jimmy, Jimmy.’ One audience member, Walter Bates, said after the taping that Kimmel’s discussion of Kirk’s wife ‘was a very moving moment. I got very emotional and so did my wife.’
One couple in the audience claimed Kimmel’s parents were sitting in the crowd, and that his mother warned she would likely get emotional ahead of his appearance on stage.
This risk did not spare ABC from Kimmel’s ire, however. Kimmel acknowledged the widespread boycott liberals had undertaken since his suspension, joking at Disney had asked him to read off a script providing instructions for supporters looking to reactivate their subscription accounts.
Disney faced immense pressure from Hollywood stars after suspending Kimmel. Singer Olivia Rodrigo was also among 400 stars to sign an ACLU open letter supporting free speech and condemning Disney’s decision on Monday.
Kimmel wrapped up his monologue with a message praising Kirk’s wife, Erika.
‘She forgave him,’ Kimmel said, choking back tears. ‘That is an example we should follow.’
‘If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was. That, that’s it. A selfless act of grace. Forgiveness from a grieving widow.
‘It touched me deeply, and I hope it touches many. And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that.’
