Jimmy Kimmel appears to be taking the throne of late night king following Stephen Colbert’s ouster.
A month after the end of The Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! viewers have risen to their highest number of the previous eight years, clocking in at an average of 2.02 million, a 24% increase over last year’s viewership with a 29% jolt in the 18-49 demographic, according to a report by TheWrap. That puts Kimmel ahead of NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
However, TheWrap notes that Kimmel had gotten a boost from lead-ins from the Stanley Cup and NBA Finals, which were the most watched of the basketball event since 1998. Kimmel’s NBC competitors have also gotten an injection of viewers since Colbert’s exit. Fallon gained 19% more viewers year-over-year to 1.3 million the first week Colbert was off air, while Meyers got a more modest 7% increase from last year, according to the report.
Like Colbert, Kimmel has been at heated odds with President Donald Trump and his entourage. So it jibes the audience that was checking out Colbert would jump to Kimmel. And with skits like the joke Kimmel played on Olivia Rodrigo, the late night host makes tuning in easy.
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