‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ return draws 6.26 million viewers, ABC parent Disney says

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned to air Tuesday night, generating 6.26 million total viewers despite significant preemptions across 23% of U.S. TV households, according to data from Nielsen shared by Disney.

This viewership is exponentially higher than average. During the 2024-2025 season, a period that ran from September to May, Kimmel’s average viewership was 1.42 million.

The pretaped show, which airs on the Disney-owned ABC, marked the first time host Jimmy Kimmel publicly addressed his suspension from late night following comments he made during a previous show’s monologue that criticized members of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement for their reaction to conservative activist Charlie Kirk‘s killing.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said Tuesday night. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”

In addition to linear ratings, Kimmel’s monologue, which clocked in at over 28 minutes, garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms, Disney reported Wednesday. The company also touted that Tuesday’s show earned its highest rating among adults aged 18 to 49 years in more than a decade.

“[Trump] tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show,” Kimmel joked Tuesday during his monologue. “Backfired bigly.”

Local station owners Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair both said they would preempt the show’s return on Tuesday, meaning many markets across the country were not able to watch the program through local channels. Together, the two companies own roughly 70 ABC affiliate stations. According to Disney and Nielsen that preemption impacted a little less than one-fourth of the country.

Nextstar and Sinclair said they would preempt the show last week following comments from from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr that suggested ABC and its affiliate stations could be at risk of losing broadcast licenses over the comments.

On Wednesday, Nexstar said it was “continuing to evaluate” the status of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and was “engaged in productive discussions” with Disney executives.

A Sinclair representative on Wednesday referred CNBC to its statement on Monday, which said the company’s stations would be preempting the show and that “discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”