Jimmy Kimmel nabs highest ratings in over a decade with post-suspension episode

Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night television after a brief suspension drew 6.26 million total viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings, marking the show’s highest-performing regularly scheduled episode in over a decade.

Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night television after a brief suspension drew 6.26 million total viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings, making it the show’s highest-performing regularly scheduled episode in over a decade.

The robust ratings are remarkable partly because a typical episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" attracts roughly 1.6 million viewers.

Disney, which owns ABC, highlighted that the latest episode did not air in 23% of American households. That’s because Nexstar and Sinclair, two major owners of ABC broadcast affiliates, continue to refuse to run the show following Kimmel’s remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Jimmy Kimmel becomes emotional during monologue after returning to air01:57Kimmel had been at the center of a national firestorm for nearly a week after he commented on the political motivations of the man suspected of killing Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

“The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said on his Sept. 15 show.