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‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ratings: Did drop in viewers spark ABC's decision? Trump's claim explored
ABC suspended Kimmel after his Kirk remarks; Trump cheered, citing weak ratings. In September 2025, his show fell 11% to 1.104 million viewers, ranking 3rd.
ABC on Wednesday announced its decision to suspend the late-night show, 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' because of comments made by host Jimmy Kimmel about the recent death of Charlie Kirk. President Donald Trump reacted to the decision, saying that the show was "ratings challenged" and it "had to be done."
“Great News for America: The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible."
As expected, it sparked a row over the ratings of Jimmy Kimmel's show. And that's what we'll look at in this article.
Jimmy Kimmel's Latest Ratings and Viewership
The ratings for late-night shows in the US come from Nielsen Media Research, which tracks television viewership across networks.
As per the first report in September, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert continues to dominate late night, averaging 2.812 million total viewers in September 2025, though that marked a 6% decline from July’s post-cancellation surge.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! slipped 11% to 1.104 million viewers, which made it the third-most-watched show in September, after Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC, which saw a surprise 17% rise to 1.330 million viewers.
Earlier in 2025, however, Kimmel had shown strength in the key 18–49 demographic, as per the Nielsen data. In Q2, while Colbert led overall with 2.42 million viewers compared to Kimmel’s 1.77 million and Fallon’s 1.19 million, Jimmy Kimmel Live! topped the demo with 220,000 viewers—its best in a year.
Colbert was close behind with 219,000, while Fallon trailed far back at 157,000.
Also read: 'First Stephen Colbert now...': Jimmy Kimmel faces action over Charlie Kirk comments, fans react
Why was Jimmy Kimmel Fired
The decision to fire Jimmy Kimmel from hosting his show on the ABC Network, a Disney-owned subsidiary, came after comments made by Kimmel on the death of Charlie Kirk sparked a row. The uproar became so huge that even the FTC chairman called for Kimmel to be fired.
ABC, however, did not take the first step. It came from one of their Texas-based affiliates, the Nexstar media group, which said that they are putting Kimmel off air over his comments on Charkie Kirk's death. Soon after, ABC also confirmed that they are suspending the Jimmy Kimmel Show indefinitely.
Kimmel: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid (Robinson) who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it."
