Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback was embarrassingly short-lived.
Since his return to the airwaves, Kimmel has enjoyed a significant boost in support from leftists who wanted to stick it to Republicans. On Tuesday, he saw a record 6.3 million average viewers, many of whom undoubtedly turned in to see what he would say about his suspension.
But on Wednesday night, he only managed to pull 2,414,000 average viewership, which is leagues above his normal average of 1.7 million but constitutes a 70% drop from the previous day. He managed to climb over Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon, but fell short of Gutfeld!, which had 3,233,000 average viewers. It will likely continue to return to its baseline viewership in the coming days and weeks, which means it will once again be costing the network money to produce.
“Between Kimmel making around $17 million a year, his large staff, and the show’s production out of Los Angeles, ABC is almost certainly losing money on the program,” wrote Outkick’s Bobby Burack. “For comparison, CBS is losing around $40 million per year by producing Stephen Colbert’s competing late-night program, which draws 30% more viewers than Kimmel’s.”
But as Kimmel’s contract approaches its end, ABC will be stuck between the options of resigning him so they don’t risk angering the left-wing mob, or cutting him off to help stem the loss of their money, Burack predicts.
X users reacted to the shocking dip in viewership:
This is why Sinclair and Nexstar put him back on. They figured they’d take the high road, and just him fail on his own.
— ⭕ Chris (@OklaHero) September 27, 2025
Of course, everyone logged on to see what numnutz was going to say when he came back on the air. That shouldn’t be confused with his show somehow magically becoming popular.
— jsb (@jeff1140s) September 27, 2025
Yep. People stopped to see the car crash for a minute, but then kept driving.
— Thor Odinson (@Thor_Odinson) September 27, 2025
They did us a favor putting him back on. Now he’ll get cancelled because he’s horrible instead of everyone blaming Trump.
— MAGA Mike (@mikeisenberg) September 27, 2025
It’s cause people are getting tired of people talking about politics in every single thing they do.
— Whereismyhat (@Wheresmyhatgrok) September 27, 2025
I didn’t think Jimmy Kimmel could make me laugh, but that certainly did it, lol.
— Angela Clifton (@AngelaC41829305) September 27, 2025
This is my prediction. Disney brought him back to “prove” they are for “free speech” and then will silently pull him off the air in less than two months because his ratings are so bad and affiliates refuse to air the show.
— Amy (@my2pinks) September 27, 2025
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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