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Jimmy Kimmel Live! It’s back and its audience is surged.
On Tuesday, September 23rd, Jimmy Kimmel’s long-term late-night program returned to ABC a day after Disney announced the show’s “indefinite break” conclusion. And viewers certainly adjusted to see what Kimmel (57) had to say.
According to a backup Nielsen rating around KNN, he reported a monologue calling Donald Trump and the FCC in threatening comments. The rating is more than three times his usual amount and does not account for on-demand viewers. This goes without saying that the show is not airing on many local ABC stations.
The video of his monologue, posted to the show’s YouTube account, has earned 15.9 million views within 24 hours.
Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty
The numbers come a week after the host’s October 15th monologue. Meanwhile, he commented on the shooting death of right-wing character Charlie Kirk, followed by a talk from FCC’s Brendan Kerr, and Disney’s ABC pulled the show out of the air.
Disney later confirmed on Monday, September 22nd that Kimmel would return the next day, but not all involved in the air followed suit. Nexstar Media and Sinclair, the broadcasting company that makes up the country’s largest ABC affiliate group, have announced that they will be ahead of the show at their affiliate stations ahead of their return on Tuesday.
Before ABC’s September 17 decision to temporarily withdraw Carr (Federal Communications Commission Chairman) Kimmel, the FCC warned that it could take action against the network and Disney over Kimmel’s comments on Kirk.
During his monologue two days ago, Kimmel spoke to the fatal Shun, a conservative commentator. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Magga gang who desperately tried to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them and doing everything he could to score political points from there,” Kimmel said. “There was sadness between the points. On Friday, the White House flew the flag with half of its staff.
Kimmel then showed a clip where President Donald Trump was asked about Kirk’s death. The camera then returned to Kimmel and said, “Yes, he is in the fourth stage of grief. Construction. This is not a way for adults to grieve for the murder of someone he called a friend.”
Before the episode, Kimmel expressed his sadness on social media, saying, “Can I just agree that shooting another person in place of an angry finger point is a scary and monster?
Both Nexstar and Sinclair denounced Kimmel’s comments. Nexstar recently revealed plans to acquire rival broadcaster Tegna for over $6 billion. The deal further consolidated the local television landscape and placed Nexstar in 80% of American television-owned households, following the press release. The acquisition requires final approval from the FCC, which Carr will carry out under Trump’s appointment.
Kerr praised the Next Star for “doing the right thing” and thanked Sinclair for “taking quick action” last week. On his part, Trump celebrated Kimmel being taken into the air, claiming that the host was “dismissed for lack of talent.”
Before Disney announced Kimmel’s return, an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was signed by over 400 Entertainment figures, including Tom Hanks and Jennifer Aniston.
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Jimmy Kimmel Live! It will air on ABC at 11:35pm on weekdays.
