OK So while the first episode back on air the entire planet who was following this knew the ratings would be the biggest Kimmel had in a long time given all the hype, talk and controversy. All crafted and manufactured by Jimmy to bring some life to his abysmal ratings. He used the death of Charlie Kirk to do this and once again turning another persons tragedy and trying to make it all about himself.
Jimmy who is a father himself should be ashamed of his TV behavior, and his constant lying, mocking and creating this sort of horrible noise, and with Disney and Bob Iger deciding to cave in to the Hollyweirdos who wrote him demanding Kimmel returns or else!
This included most the Marvel liberal TDS morons they think we gives a crap about.
Mark Ruffalo, Pedro Pascal, and all these Rainbow bright morons think we care like there couldn't be another whoever playing "The Hulk" or "Din Djarin" and AFTER Fantastic Four I never want to see Pedro Pascal again. He's a horrible actor, and 1 trick pony. The Mandalorian and it wasn't him that made that show good.
But back to this Kimmel thing. The controversy surrounding the brief preemption of Jimmy Kimmel Live by Sinclair Broadcast Group’s who is an ABC affiliates has taken a dramatic turn in the ratings war, as audience numbers for the late-night show plummeted just one day after its high-profile return.
1. Gutfeld! (FNC): 3,233,000
2. Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC): 2,414,000
3. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS): 1,988,000
4. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (NBC): 1,244,000
Shows on YouTube get better numbers let's be honest... And unlike Gutfeld he's on a FOX News CH which unless you knew how this works Only the shows after "Gutfeld" on that top 4 the rest are on normal TV not like Gutfeld who's overall audience is smaller as it's FoxNews but yet he destroys the other 3.
So what have we learned if anything else? That most people didn't like Jimmy's big return and so by the very next night, viewership had plummeted to about 2.4 million, according to Nielsen ratings cited by OutKick. That represents a 60–70% overnight collapse. In plain terms, most of the audience that tuned in to see what the fuss was about immediately vanished, leaving Kimmel right back in the rut he was in before suspension.
Even without the suspension and affiliate drama, Kimmel’s show has been in deep decline. From January through August of 2025, Jimmy Kimmel Live! lost nearly half of its audience, averaging just 1.7 million viewers. That is a steep drop for a program that once competed toe-to-toe with the likes of Jay Leno and David Letterman.
Disney, which owns ABC, is trying to frame Kimmel’s return as a major cultural moment. The company has pointed to viral clips of his monologue circulating on YouTube and TikTok, racking up tens of millions of views. But viral clips don’t equal sustained ratings, and they certainly don’t appease advertisers looking for consistent live audiences in the coveted late-night slot.
CNN is attempting a classic media sleight of hand: proclaiming that Kimmel’s comeback is a sweeping victory by pointing to YouTube views, while utterly ignoring the 70% collapse in his TV ratings the platform that actually matters for ad dollars, affiliate fees, and network viability for a network talk show. In its reporting, CNN highlights that Kimmel’s monologue “soared” on YouTube invoking viral reach and social impressions. But let’s be absolutely clear:
YouTube views don’t pay ABC or its affiliates in any meaningful way as live TV ratings do. What matters to advertisers and network bottom lines is live linear viewership, especially within the 11:35 p.m. late-night time slot, not recorded or online spillover.
When you strip away the hype, the actual data show a cliff from roughly 6.3 million viewers on Night 1 to 2.4 million on Night 2 (a 60–70% drop). That collapse is real, measurable, and devastating yet CNN ignores it in favor of clickbait language about “skyrocketing digital engagement.” It’s not just misleading it’s disingenuous.
In effect, CNN is handing Kimmel a PR lifeline built on smoke and mirrors: distract readers with YouTube numbers, bury the TV ratings meltdown, and let viewers misinterpret what “soaring” really means. But the truth remains: Kimmel’s show is bleeding on the platform that matters most and no amount of social media traffic can paper over that reality. The broader issue for Kimmel is that he no longer speaks to a wide swath of the American public.
If Disney and ABC hoped Kimmel’s suspension would create anticipation that translated into long-term growth, they were mistaken. The 6.3 million viewers on night one were a fluke, not a foundation. The rapid fall to 2.4 million showed that the Kimmel ratings problem isn’t going away.