The much-anticipated episode of *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* following the comedian’s return from suspension drew a broadcast audience about four times larger than average, according to Nielsen ratings data. This impressive viewership came despite the late-night show being preempted by about a quarter of all ABC affiliate TV stations in the U.S.
Tuesday’s show attracted an estimated 6.26 million total broadcast viewers, Disney said in a news release Wednesday, based on numbers compiled by Nielsen, an audience measurement firm. These figures do not include viewers who watched the episode on streaming platforms.
For comparison, Kimmel’s show averaged 1.42 million broadcast viewers during its 2024-25 season, less than a quarter of Tuesday night’s audience, according to numbers provided to CBS News by a Disney spokesperson.
The Tuesday broadcast also achieved a 0.87 rating among adults ages 18 to 49, the coveted demographic for advertisers, marking the highest rating for a single episode of *Jimmy Kimmel Live!* since March 2015. Last season, the show averaged only a 0.13 rating within this age group, Disney added.
In addition to television viewership, Kimmel’s monologue drew more than 26 million views on YouTube and other social media platforms, according to Disney, which owns ABC. During the monologue, Kimmel showed a video clip of former President Donald Trump criticizing the show, saying it “had no ratings.” Kimmel responded, “Well, I do tonight.”
The late-night show had been temporarily preempted last week following comments Kimmel made during his September 15 monologue regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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,” Kimmel said at the time.
In a September 17 interview, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr called Kimmel’s remarks “some of the sickest conduct possible” and mentioned a “path forward for suspension over this.” Within hours of Carr’s comments, two major station owners, Nexstar and Sinclair, announced they were preempting Kimmel’s show indefinitely on their affiliates. ABC also announced it was suspending the show indefinitely.
While ABC decided Monday to bring Kimmel back to the airwaves, both Nexstar and Sinclair said Tuesday that the show would continue to be preempted indefinitely. Nexstar stated it is “continuing to evaluate the status” of the show. The company operates 33 ABC affiliates, while Sinclair runs 38 ABC stations.
According to Disney, Nexstar and Sinclair together operate ABC stations that cover about 23% of the U.S. market, including major markets such as Nashville and Seattle. Nexstar also has a pending deal to purchase fellow station operator Tegna for $6.2 billion, which requires FCC approval.
During Tuesday’s monologue, Kimmel stopped short of offering a full apology but said, “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. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Following Kimmel’s suspension, on September 17, former President Trump took to Truth Social—a social platform he frequently uses—to declare that the “ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.” Trump, who has criticized late-night hosts extensively since his first administration and has often targeted their ratings specifically, reiterated his stance prior to the Tuesday episode, writing on social media: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!”
**Report contributed by CBS News.**
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-ratings-jump-highest-in-years-return-to-abc-airwaves/