If you’ve seen headlines about Jimmy Kimmel Live! losing “half its audience,” you might assume the late-night host’s post-suspension bump has vanished. It hasn’t.
The White House and some news outlets have highlighted a week-to-week ratings decline—and they’re not wrong. According to Live+3 figures for the week of Sept. 29–Oct. 4 (see below), Kimmel averaged 42% fewer total viewers and was down 52% in the advertiser-coveted 18–49 demographic compared to the prior week.
But those numbers only tell half the story. Jimmy Kimmel‘s return from suspension on September 23rd was a televsion event—one that dominated headlines and drew record-breaking ratings.
If you compare Kimmel’s numbers last week to two weeks earlier, he was actually up 45% in total viewers and 52% among younger adults. That was enough to make Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week’s winner in the 11:35 p.m. time slot for the second consecutive week.
Yes, Fox News fans, Greg Gutfeld still drew more total viewers (it airs at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT). But among the shows we track —Gutfeld! included—Kimmel delivered the highest share of television viewers and the largest 18–49 audience, the number advertisers care about most.
Jimmy Kimmel was never going to hold on to the massive audience that tuned in to see what he would say upon his return. The more relevant question now is whether his show can retain some of that expanded audience
For now, the numbers suggest it has. That’s not to say that Kimmel’s ratings won’t eventually return to their pre-suspension levels, but it’s inaccurate to claim that they already have.
Complete ratings charts for the week of September 22, 2025 follow below.
Note: Time period listed is most common airtime for show.
Live+ 3 Ratings — All Viewers (P2+)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000’s) | Vs Last Wk | Vs 2 Wks Ago | |
| 10:00 PM | ||||
| Gutfeld! (FNC)† 5 first-run episodes | 7.04 | 3,237 | -0.45% | -8.04% |
| Watch What Happens Live (Bravo)* 5 first-run episodes | 0.54 | 268 | +23.08% | +5.76% |
| 11:00 PM | ||||
| The Daily Show (COM)* 4 first-run episodes | 2.56 | 865 | +10.41% | -17.06% |
| 11:35 PM | ||||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) 5 first-run episodes | 11.27 | 2,829 | -42.14% | +45.02% |
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) 4 first-run episodes | 10.51 | 2,725 | +2.61% | -5.79% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) 4 first-run episodes | 4.31 | 1,104 | -13.11% | -16.65% |
| 12:37 PM | ||||
| Nightline (ABC)* 5 first-run episodes | 6.21 | 1,115 | -5.94% | +54.66% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) 4 first-run episodes | 5.50 | 935 | -10.40% | -0.19% |
Live+ 3 Ratings — In the Demo (P18-49)
| Avg Share (%) | Avg Viewers (000’s) | Vs Last Wk | Vs 2 Wks Ago | |
| 10:00 PM | ||||
| Gutfeld! (FNC)† 5 first-run eps | 2.98 | 280 | +25.29% | +5.49% |
| Watch What Happens Live (Bravo)* 5 first-run eps | 0.48 | 51 | -20.16% | -24.17% |
| 11:00 PM | ||||
| The Daily Show (COM)* 4 first-run eps | 2.86 | 195 | +18.96% | -20.93% |
| 11:35 PM | ||||
| Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) 5 first-run eps | 7.28 | 363 | -51.73% | +52.12% |
| The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) 4 first-run eps | 4.80 | 253 | +4.00% | +15.99% |
| The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) 4 first-run eps | 2.59 | 136 | -8.15% | -40.35% |
| 12:37 PM | ||||
| Nightline (ABC)* 5 first-run eps | 4.66 | 173 | -2.38% | +97.48% |
| Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC) 4 first-run eps | 3.33 | 118 | +9.05% | +11.11% |
Ratings data © The Nielsen Company, used under license.
Kimmel’s Wednesday, October 1st show had 1.70 million viewers, dropping 74 percent from the 6.48 million viewers he had his first night back after being yanked from air.
And that’s actually lower than his Q2 average ratings of 1.77 million viewers.
Apples and oranges. Kimmel’s Q2 average was 1.772 million viewers. That’s based on Live+7 ratings. We don’t yet know what the show’s 10/1 Live+7 ratings were, but its Live+3 ratings were 2.222 million viewers.
Again, there’s no question that the show has not maintained the numbers of its record-breaking 9/23 return.
Only thing that matters is C3 data due to DVRs, so Live+SD is more relevant than Live+7.
And the same Wednesday last year, Live+SD viewing was higher, but that was during a presidential year.
But vs. the same Wednesday two years ago (not an election year), viewership was only 35,000 more people watching with P2+.
What’s more interesting, imo, is that PUT levels have collapsed in the past two years for this time period, making cancelling these expensive late nights a more prudent financial decision.
The point here isn’t whether ratings have fallen year-over-year or in recent years (they have).
The point is Kimmel’s ratings last week were higher than they were pre-suspension. It’s inaccurate to cite the show’s 1.69 million Live+SD viewers on 10/1 as being lower than the Q2 Live+7 avg of 1.77 million. That’s apples and oranges.
If we want to compare Live+SD ratings, Kimmel’s 10/1 rating of 1.69 is still higher than the show’s Q2 Live+SD avg of 1.48 million.
And FWIW, the show’s Live+SD ratings were back up to 1.9 million and 2.2 million on Thurs 10/2 and Fri 10/3.
Because many felt that Jimmy was not contrite. He never apologized, or talked directly about why he said what he did. Just because you or I may not have felt offended, many others did. I guarantee you that many people on his staff told him not to tell a joke about anything Charlie Kirk related.
You just keep throwing your shit around because you find it amusing! And because you’re stuck in your mommy’s basement, unable to leave due to the fact you refuse to stop hanging around school grounds,
Feel better, now that your faults have been pointed out, bitch?😈
I always tell people to, “Live at home for as long as you can. Save your money. Pay mom to do your laundry, etc. ” My mother is deceased. Oh well.
You drove her to an early grave!
Yawn. Be patient, wait a month and see what the ratings are. People will either make a late night habit or they won’t. I haven’t for years…they’re all pretty predictable and I watch movies and news channels, post on FB or go to bed.
What’s more is that Jimmy did not have the full network line-up of stations due to Sinclair and Nexstar pre-empting him. They started airing “JKL” that Friday.
Never give an audience an opportunity to sample other shows. Too many and too often reruns of recent shows
Jimmy did not have the full network because of the Sinclair and Nexstar pre-emptions until the Friday after his return. I want Broadcast Late Night Television to be entertaining again. Politics leaves a stain on the Legacy that is Late Night Television.
Sorry. OCD.
I could not care less about Jimmy Kimmel, Fallon, Colbert, etc. The truth is the days are numbered for these late night shows in their current format. Paying millions of dollars to a host who draws such a small audience will be a thing of the past in the near future since none of them are making a profit for the networks.
I presume we will see these hosts on the podcast world at some point, as their may be enough of an audience to make them somewhat successful in that genre.
Never give an audience an opportunity to sample other shows. Too many and too often reruns of recent shows
Less ratings = Lost Ratings .
Jimmy Kimmel is just about the dope TV has ever had . He is not funny but very stupid.