First on LateNighter: More ratings data is trickling in from Jimmy Kimmel’s gangbusters Tuesday night return to late night, including one eye-popping statistic: more than 23 percent of viewers watching television at 11:35 p.m. were tuned to ABC.
That’s the largest audience share for any late-night talk show since May 1992, when Johnny Carson was closing out his 30-year run on NBC.
Even more remarkably, that number came despite 23% of ABC’s local affiliates not carrying the show.
According to updated Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Tuesday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 6.38 million total viewers—more than triple the show’s audience a week earlier. Among younger viewers, the growth was even more dramatic: more than 1.2 million tuned in, a more than sevenfold increase week over week. The show’s Live+3 data, due early next week, will lift those numbers even higher.
Meanwhile, Kimmel’s Tuesday night monologue continues to rack up digital momentum, with the YouTube clip surpassing 21 million views in less than 48 hours.
Notably, while Kimmel’s time-slot competitors Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon both joked Tuesday that nobody would be watching their shows, neither saw steep live-plus-same-day declines compared to the prior week. That suggests many of the viewers who turned out for Kimmel were not regular late-night watchers.
ABC’s Nightline, which follows Kimmel at 12:37 a.m., also benefitted from the host’s the ratings surge. The program jumped 149% in total viewers week over week, and a staggering 450% among younger viewers. All told, more than 1.8 million people tuned in—Nightline’s biggest audience since 2020, when it temporarily occupied the 11:35 p.m. slot during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic
Full ratings charts for Tuesday, September 23, 2025, follow below:
Live+SD Ratings – All Viewers (P2+)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Wk Ago | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
| Gutfeld! (FNC) † | 7.11 | 3,127 | -3% |
| 11:00 PM | |||
|
The Daily Show (COM) *
| 1.61 | 538 | +34% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
|
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
| 6.39 | 1,742 | -5% |
|
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
| 3.77 | 1,021 | +5% |
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) | 23.81 | 6,384 | +340% |
| 12:37 AM | |||
|
Nightline (ABC)
| 9.77 | 1,834 | +149% |
|
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
| 4.73 | 802 | +3% |
Live+SD Ratings – In the Demo (P18-49)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000s) | Vs Wk Ago | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM | |||
|
Gutfeld! (FNC) †
| 2.99 | 242 | -2% |
| 11:00 PM | |||
|
The Daily Show (COM) *
| 2.43 | 151 | +17% |
| 11:35 PM | |||
|
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
| 2.8 | 157 | -1% |
|
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
| 2.03 | 113 | -1% |
|
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
| 21.98 | 1,213 | +742% |
| 12:37 AM | |||
|
Nightline (ABC)
| 8.13 | 320 | +452% |
|
Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)
| 2.19 | 78 | -6% |
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
“more than 23 percent of viewers watching television at 11:35 p.m. were tuned to ABC.
That’s the largest audience share for any late-night talk show since May 1992, when Johnny Carson was closing out his 30-year run on NBC.”
lol… What a load of nonsense. You failed to mentioned a fraction of people watch tv now vs. then, because Johnny Carson alone got 55 million viewers that night — more than probably every show on network and cable TV combined for that hour of the night this week.
Also, where are all of the articles boasting about Kimmel’s ratings for the nights since? Is it because his ratings dropped back down to around 1 million, and well under 150k in the only demographic that advertisers care about?
As if Kimmel gives a fuck about your fee-fees, hag!
LOL…. she states FACTS, and you start crying. Have a nice night Leftist.
David Letterman’s move to CBS was epic back in 1993. “Late Show with David Letterman” attained nearly 8 million viewers.
Well yeah, obviously there aren’t as many people watching late night tv as then, but considering that we’re talking about a show that airs at 11:35pm, on OTA broadcast tv, during a partial blackout of the program for almost a quarter of the country, IN 2025, is still mighty impressive. In a time where over-the-air tv in general is struggling, the majority choose to get the remote, tune to their ABC affiliate, and watched the return of Jimmy Kimmel, and hell, many stuck around for Nightline right afterwards. Of course, the “majority” has shrunken significantly since 1992, but again, given what show we’re talking about and the various factors and circumstances of the show, that is still an achievement to celebrate.
And yeah, obviously, Kimmel’s ratings weren’t going to be like this forever, everything dies down after a while, and no one’s immune to it. Even Johnny Carson was struggling to keep his thunder roaring towards the end of his run; in 1991, he was consistently getting beat out in ratings to his own guest host, Jay Leno.