Jimmy Kimmel’s Audience Numbers Implode After Brief Spike
1st October 2025
Progressive late-night television is dying. The signals could not be more clear with Stephen Colbert’s cancellation due to $40 million losses every year on productions costs. If Colbert is failing, then nearly all late night shows a failing. Many analysts have been speculating that Jimmy Kimmel was next on the chopping block.
During the second quarter, Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 1.77 million total viewers. That’s down quite a bit from 2015, when Colbert joined the late-night lineup and Nielsen says Kimmel averaged 2.4 million total viewers. The leftist comedian has become infamous in the past five years for his political hot takes and overt hatred of conservatives, just as the majority of late night hosts have gravitated to propaganda rather than entertainment. This has not helped their audience ratings.
Then, Kimmel threw himself into the middle of the public turmoil over the Charlie Kirk assassination. His ABC “cancellation” was short lived and the show was back in a week. Broadcast affiliates Sinclair and Nexstar decided to bring Kimmel back and his return garnered 6.5 million viewers. Democrats cheered as if they had just won a political victory, but reality is not kind to the delusional.