Jimmy Kimmel’s Return to Late Night Draws 26 Million+ Views After Suspension

The ratings are in! As Jimmy Kimmel made a fiery return for the first post-suspension episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday (September 23) night, 6.26 million total viewers tuned in to see the episode on broadcast alone, ABC has announced. That’s despite the fact that dozens of local ABC affiliate stations were preempted by Nexstar and Sinclair from showing the episode, to the tune of 23% of U.S. TV households being blocked.

ABC touts the episode’s 0.87 rating as the series’ highest in more than a decade, since March 12, 2015.

Though the ratings do not currently include streaming figures, the network did also note that Kimmel’s emotional monologue earned a whopping 26 million+ views on YouTube and social media channels.

The episode aired just hours after Disney lifted Kimmel’s suspension, which came after backlash over his comments about the accused killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The Trump administration had pressured ABC to take action, but Disney cut the suspension short, defying the mounting political heat.

Taking the stage to a standing ovation, Kimmel got emotional as he defended satire and pushed back on what he called “bullying” from Trump’s camp.

“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.” He then joked about Disney losing subscribers during his absence, reading mock instructions on how to “reactivate your Disney+ and Hulu accounts.”

Not everyone saw the return, though. Major broadcast groups Nexstar and Sinclair, which together control 70 ABC affiliates covering about 23% of U.S. households, refused to air the episode. That blackout affected viewers in cities like Seattle, Salt Lake City, Nashville, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. Nexstar says it is still “evaluating” the show.

Meanwhile, Trump blasted Kimmel’s reinstatement on Truth Social, calling the comedian’s jokes a “major illegal campaign contribution” and hinting at further action against ABC. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr also threatened investigations into ABC affiliates, warning stations to drop the show or risk fines — remarks that drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

In the second half of the late night show’s heavily anticipated, post-suspension episode, superstar Robert De Niro popped in to play the FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

“We were in the middle, and in a lot of ways, still are in the middle of an unprecedented fix. After almost 23 years on the air, we’re suddenly not being broadcast in 20% of the country, which is not a situation we relish. So we reached out to the chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr,” Kimmel said to start the bit. “He has, to his credit, agreed to join us from his office in Washington, and here he is now. Thank you, Chairman Carr, for being with us tonight.”

“You tell Whoopi over there, she better show a little respect, or the only view she’s getting is from under George Washington. The bridge, not the guy,” FCC chair De Niro then said from a split-screen. When asked if he just threatened Whoopi Goldberg, the actor replied, “No, I would never threaten Ms. Goldstein, I was just teaching a lesson about consequences.”

For example, if you wanted to compliment the president’s “beautiful, thick yellow hair or how he can do his makeup better than any broad,” that’s free. However, “If you want to do a joke like he’s so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein jet, that’s gonna cost you.”

Kimmel closed his monologue by surprising everyone with a rare shoutout:

“I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, but Ted Cruz is right.”