Kimmel Scores Massive Ratings On His Return To Late-Night

We all guessed Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night TV would score some big ratings, and now we have the numbers.

After a week-long suspension, Kimmel’s return drew a whopping 6.26 million viewers according to early Nielsen ratings, making Tuesday night’s episode the highest-performing regularly scheduled episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in over a decade.

According to Nielsen, an average episode of “Kimmel Live!” garners around 1.6 million viewers.

‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ scored 6.26 million viewers and a 0.87 rating among adults 18-49 on Tuesday night, making it the highest-rated regularly scheduled episode in more than 10 years. pic.twitter.com/jQjp43LrGU

— TV Deets (@tvdeets) September 24, 2025

Keep in mind, nearly a quarter of the country couldn’t even view the show Tuesday night because Sinclair and Nextstar, owners of dozens of local ABC affiliates, still refuse to air “Kimmel Live!” over a vague remark made by Kimmel in an opening monologue regarding the shooting death of far-right activist Charlie Kirk.

But wait! There’s more!

Additionally, a clip of Kimmel’s opening monologue on Tuesday night has scored over 26 million views on YouTube and social media, NBC reports.

AND – all those numbers don’t include streaming views.

So, there you go, Donald. #SoMuchWinning

CNN: The ratings are in for the first day. 6.26 million viewers on ABC. That was four times Jimmy Kimmel’s average. And that’s despite the show not even being available in a quarter of all American homes. pic.twitter.com/CkT486mAwg

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 24, 2025

Harry Enten: “If Donald Trump’s idea was to give Jimmy Kimmel more press and more viewership, he absolutely did so” pic.twitter.com/hti3pVZ77G

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 24, 2025