Jimmy Kimmel has Donald Trump to thank for a MASSIVE rise in viewership!
The POTUS may be claiming Jimmy Kimmel Live! has “bad ratings,” but the numbers proved him wrong this week. The late-night show returned to ABC on Tuesday night after a six-day hiatus. Considering the controversy, the first show back was expected to be big… but it even exceeded those lofty expectations!
According to Nielsen ratings, nearly 6.5 million live and same-day viewers tuned in! That’s the second-highest episode of the show EVER — and the highest in over 10 years! The current record is held by the post-Oscars special in 2014, which drew in 7.1 million people. And this new record says a lot, considering the show still isn’t airing on tons of stations across the country!
Related: Jessica Chastain Slams Apple For Delaying Her New Show
Jimmy’s monologue alone blew up online with 15.9 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours! As of this writing, it has over 21 million views — and counting. Needless to say, all the drama has been good for the program! Millions of people tuning in to hear what Kimmel had to say about what Trump was doing… They heard him say the current President “celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.” And they heard his reminder about the importance of free speech, something not every country has:
“This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
https://www.youtube.com/series?v=c1tjh_ZO_tY
Powerful stuff — that a LOT of folks watched.
In Thursday night’s monologue, Kimmel took a moment to reflect on the wild numbers, saying:
“This has been a tumultuous week. Even though we are still being preempted in 60 American cities, on Tuesday, we had our second-highest rated show in almost 23 years on the air. Our monologue from Tuesday night has more than 21 million views just on YouTube alone.”
He then gave credit where credit was due, teasing:
“And I want to say, we couldn’t have done it without you, Mr. President. Thank you very much.”
Hah!
Jimmy joked that “after the big boost,” he noticed other shows started to “take shots” at POTUS before showing an Antique Roadshow parody of an appraiser randomly calling out Trump. See the full monologue:
https://www.youtube.com/series?v=OpbldvKr2uc
The show will be filming in Brooklyn next week. The comedian quipped that they were “on the move so the FCC can’t get us.” LOLz!
As we’ve covered, when the show returned, The Celebrity Apprentice alum slammed ABC for the reversal, writing on Truth Social in part:
“A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Doesn’t make much sense today, does it? And ratings have continued to stay strong all week. Looks like the plan to get Jimmy canceled really backfired… But hey, maybe Trump could fire the head of the Nielsen ratings, like he did after that bad jobs report?
Thoughts, y’all? Sound OFF in the comments!
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