‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ratings surge after wild year and Trump feud

Late night comedian and host Jimmy Kimmel is constantly be saying and doing things that make national headlines, from feuding with President Donald Trump, getting temporarily suspended from the airwaves and asking New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to send cheeky text messages. And the world is definitely watching.

ABC announced Sept. 29 that the 2025-2026 season of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was its most watched in eight years (since 2017-2018). And for the newly started 2026-2027 season, "Kimmel" is in the top spot.

From 2025-2026, "Kimmel" averaged two million total viewers each week and nabbed 2.29 million viewers its first week of the fall TV season, giving it the No. 1 spot across all of late night in his 11:35pm ET/PT time slot. ABC's release also noted that last season of "Kimmel" scored No. 1 among viewers 18-49, the key adult demographic sought after by advertisers.

"In the final week of the 2025-2026 season … 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' ranked No. 1 in both total viewers (2.34 million) and Adults 18-49," the release said.

The "Kimmel" numbers mark his clear ascendancy to the top of the late night ratings chart after the former leader, "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," bowed…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/