Last month, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” reemerged from cancellation with a ratings jump and social momentum. His midnight honeymoon, however, is already over.
Kimmel made incendiary comments over free speech champion Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September, slamming President Trump’s leadership and comparing his grief to “a four-year-old mourning a goldfish.” With his ratings nosediving for months, what little audience remained turned off their TV sets, prompting Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting to pull him from ABC station affiliates. Jimmy raged and threatened to cut ties with ABC forever. But just days later, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned, and the late-night host issued an apology that attracted over 6 million viewers, the most in series history, even if many felt it was insincere.
Kimmel had renewed interest and lightning in a bottle. But he squandered it by refusing to change the same act that got him booted in the first place.
By continuing to politicize every current event, Kimmel has impressively lost 85% of his post-suspension bounce in just a few weeks among key demographics. With ratings hovering around 1.7 million viewers, his collapse in viewership is now lower than it was pre-suspension.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member