Jimmy Kimmel’s return draws record ratings despite limited showing

Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night TV after a near weeklong suspension brought his show its highest ratings in a decade, Disney has said.

Some 6.26 million people tuned in to Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday – about triple its average ratings – despite about a quarter of ABC stations in the US not airing it.

A further 26 million watched Kimmel’s emotional 28-minute monologue on social media, Disney said.

The initial numbers, compiled by analytics firm Nielsen, will likely increase over the coming days as more data is collected. The figures do not include streaming viewership.

By comparison, Jimmy Kimmel Live! drew an average of 1.42 million viewers across its entire 2024-2025 season.

Tuesday’s show was Kimmel’s first since he was pulled off air last week. ABC and its parent company Disney had said it suspended the show because of comments he made about the man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In his monologue at the time, Kimmel said US President Donald Trump and his allies were “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and trying to “score political points from it”.

Kimmel also likened Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s death to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish”.

The decision to suspend his show came hours after Brendan Carr, chairman of US broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to act against ABC and Disney over Kimmel’s remarks.

The controversy triggered nationwide debates over free speech.

During Tuesday’s show, a tearful Kimmel said it “was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man”. He also accused Mr Carr of “mob tactics”.

The comic also criticised Trump for calling for the axing of his fellow late-night hosts – all of whom are frequent critics of the president as they riff on the day’s biggest news stories.

“Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” Kimmel said, adding that Trump openly rooting for people to lose their jobs was “un-American” and “dangerous”.

Kimmel’s return was praised by some celebrity supporters, including actor Ben Stiller, who lauded the “brilliant monologue”. But it was not universally welcomed.

Trump was critical of his reinstatement, writing on social media: “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.”

Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s former producer, said Kimmel should have offered a full apology for suggesting the suspected killer was a Maga supporter. “Not good enough,” he wrote on X.