The numbers are in and the return episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! was a massive hit on TV and social media.
Earlier today, ABC released preliminary Live + Same Day Nielsen figures, showing 6.26 million total viewers watched the show’s return on Tuesday, Sept. 23. It was Kimmel’s most-watched regularly scheduled episode since the program debuted in 2003.
The late-night show brought in more viewers twice in the past, but those were special Sunday night episodes after the Super Bowl in 2006 and the Oscars in 2014, according to Variety.
Tuesday’s episode scored a 0.87 rating in the advertiser coveted Adults 18-49 demographic, giving the show its best demo rating for a weeknight episode since 2015.
The preliminary numbers do not include streaming or delayed viewing.
Related: Jimmy Kimmel Sheds Tears, Reminds Audience ‘What’s Important’ in Late-Night Return
Host Jimmy Kimmel and his staff pulled off the ratings feat, despite not airing on ABC affiliates owned by Sinclair and Nexstar — the nation’s two largest local TV station owners.
The broadcasters refused to air the show’s return after ABC said it would bring Kimmel back following a brief suspension over his comments on Sept. 15 about the fatal shooting of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk. ABC said combined, the two company’s own 23 percent of its affiliates.
It’s likely people in markets where the show was pre-empted watched clips online. Kimmel’s monologue has been viewed more than 26 million times across YouTube and other social media platforms, per ABC.
The comedian got emotional on the episode and said the U.S. is becoming “authoritarian” under the Trump administration. He criticized FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and President Donald Trump.
Carr threatened stations that continued to carry the show after Kimmel’s remarks and Trump told reporters Kimmel deserved to be “fired.”
“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 our jobs,” Kimmel said Tuesday night. “Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”
There was no apology as some conservatives demanded. Although he did admit his comments about Kirk’s death on the show’s Sept. 15 episode, may have been “ill-timed.”
“It was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man,” he said through tears. “But I understand that to some it felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Urban Hollywood 411 was outside the studio on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Tuesday might, during the taping.
Once the audience exited the building, they talked to reporters. Kimmel fan Kathy Hopkins described what it was like in the studio.
“I’ve been to the show before and this was vastly different,” Hopkins said. “There was lots of love, there was a lot of gravity in there… But also, we are all just thrilled to have him back.
Watch the audience reaction below:
Discover more from Urban Hollywood 411
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
