Jimmy Kimmel Live continues to improve in the ratings on ABC. Last night’s episode in the show's new timeslot at 11:35 p.m. ET, where Kimmel competes with The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman, was up again in total viewers and actually beat out Letterman and Leno in the coveted 18-49 demographic.
Thursday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live reached 3.2 million total viewers, which is up from his Tuesday entrance into the timeslot as well as Wednesday’s ratings, although it is worth noting that Thursday is a bigger day for television viewing as a whole. Additionally, Jimmy Kimmel Live hasn’t managed to beat Leno in total viewers just yet. According to Deadline, The Tonight Show managed 3.4 million total viewers. Since the ratings are so close already, Kimmel would need very few gains to best the veteran late night host in total ratings, as he now has in the coveted advertising demographic.
The reason last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live ratings are such big news stems from the fact that Kimmel topped both Letterman and Leno in the coveted 18-49 demographic. In the demo, Kimmel pulled in 1.2 million viewers, easily besting Letterman and Leno’s programs, neither of which managed a million viewers in the younger demographic. While the ratings are still super close for each of the three shows, Kimmel’s chances of sticking with the earlier timeslot are looking good. The one thing he'll have to watch for in the coming weeks is whether people are tuning in simply due to the newness of the timeslot and some extremely interesting guest stars early on. I have faith in the younger late night host, though.
