"Jimmy Kimmel's return to television on September 23 after a nearly weeklong production hiatus gave his ABC late-night show its biggest audienceever, with an estimated 6.26 million viewers watching Tuesday night's telecast, per preliminary national Nielsen data. That number is particularly impressive considering Jimmy Kimmel Live! was not broadcast on ABC stations reaching roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population due to a blackout of the show imposed by Nexstar and Sinclair, two right-leaning TV-station groups with ABC affiliates in dozens of cities,"
"Even before Nielsen's early data was released, there were hints that tune-in for Kimmel's return was going to be impressive. A nearly half-hour clip of Kimmel's extended monologue racked up nearly 1 million views on YouTube within an hour of posting last night, soared to 10 million within 12 hours, and had earned over 15 million views as of 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, making it his most-watched monologue clip on the service."
Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned on September 23 and attracted an estimated 6.26 million viewers, per preliminary Nielsen data. The telecast reached its largest ever television audience despite not airing on ABC stations covering roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population because of a blackout imposed by Nexstar and Sinclair. The night's audience was roughly four times the show's 2024-25 season average and exceeded the 4.8 million viewers of the show's 2003 post-Super Bowl premiere. More than one million viewers were adults under 50, about five times the recent quarterly average. A monologue clip rapidly accumulated over 15 million YouTube views within a day.
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