“Jimmy Kimmel Live” returned to the air on Tuesday with a whopping 6.3 million viewers.
The series is a special Sunday episode that aired shortly after the 2006 Super Bowl and the 2014 Oscars, and only saw more audiences in history than two. Tuesday’s broadcast represents a 343% increase from an average of 1.4 million viewers in the previous season.
Tuesday’s total was from a backup live from Nielsen + data on the same day, and would have been even higher if the episode was made available nationwide. However, Nexstar and Sinclair were not aired in 23% of US households as they continue to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at the station after Disney unsuspended the show’s suspension.
Of adults aged 18-49, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” reached a rating of 0.87, up 568% from the average rating of 0.13 in the previous season, indicating the highest demo rating of regularly scheduled episodes since 2015.
During Tuesday’s broadcast, Kimmel joked about a strong audience that is likely to be achieved with his return episode. Throughout the six days when “Jimmy Kimmel Live” aired, Donald Trump, Fox News Anchor and other Kimmel critics argued that the show had “no ratings.” “Well, I’m doing it tonight!” Kimmel said in his monologue. “You need to feel sorry for most (Trump). He did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show.
Kimmel spent most of his monologues, emphasizing the importance of free speech and thanking those who pointed out the initial amendment during his pause. After yelling at the late-night host of his fellow peers who share his liberal politics, he said, “I’d like to thank my show and people who probably don’t support what I believe, but I want to support the right to share those beliefs anyway. Instead.”
“I don’t agree with many people in most subjects, but it takes courage for them to oppose this administration, even if they want to throw me what they say, and they deserve to praise it,” he continued.
