Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings have been a bit of a rollercoaster over the last couple of years, with a mix of long‑term decline in traditional TV viewership and some big recent spikes tied to controversy and late‑night competition dynamics.

Current snapshot (late 2025–early 2026)

  • Recent season averages put “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” at roughly 2 million total nightly viewers in the U.S., with around 0.2–0.3 million in the key adults 18–49 demo.
  • That makes it a solid but not dominant late‑night player: behind CBS’s Stephen Colbert in broadcast totals and behind Fox’s Greg Gutfeld on cable, but still competitive with Jimmy Fallon in the demo.
  • Within ABC’s lineup, the show sits in the mid‑tier: around the mid‑teens in popularity among all ABC shows and roughly 65th overall across TV, with just over 2.1 million viewers and about a 0.66 household rating at one recent measurement point.

Recent trends and big swings

  • In 2024, Kimmel averaged about 1.77 million viewers per night, slipping a couple of percent from 2023 and losing a bit more than 10% in the 18–49 demo.
  • Through early and mid‑2025, his ratings slid further :
    • About 1.82 million viewers in Q1 2025, down to 1.77 million in Q2.
* By August 2025, a low of roughly 1.1 million total viewers and a 0.35 household rating, with only about 129,000 viewers in the 18–49 demo.
  • At the same time, a big “event” return episode after his suspension drew around 6.3 million viewers, one of the highest‑rated shows in his entire run and about triple his normal audience.

Quick ratings table (context vs. rivals)

Here’s a simplified view of where he stands compared with key late‑night shows, using the most recent public snapshots:

Show (late night) Approx. total viewers (recent) 18–49 demo (recent) Trend
Jimmy Kimmel Live! ~2.0–2.1 million typical; up to 6.3 million for big “return” episode ~0.23 million demo; past lows near 0.13 million Gentle long‑term decline with occasional big spikes
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS) ~2.5+ million in recent tallies ~0.28 million demo Still leading broadcast late night, though also down vs. a few years ago
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC) ~1.3–1.4 million ~0.22 million demo Trailing Colbert in totals, roughly neck‑and‑neck with Kimmel in demo
Gutfeld! (Fox News) ~2+ million (cable, earlier 10 p.m. slot) Strong demo for cable Often tops total-viewer charts for late-night–style shows
[7][9][3] _(All numbers rounded; they shift week to week and by measurement window.)_

Why his ratings look like this

Several forces are pushing and pulling on Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings at the same time.

  1. Fragmented viewing habits
    • Many viewers no longer watch live at 11:35 p.m.; instead they catch monologues and bits like “Mean Tweets” on YouTube and social platforms.
 * That means traditional Nielsen overnights undercount his total reach, even while linear ratings trend down.
  1. Politics and controversy
    • Kimmel’s increasingly political monologues help him with some audiences but alienate others, and controversy around his comments has coincided with periods of ratings slippage.
 * His suspension after remarks about Charlie Kirk led to both negative press and a huge curiosity spike when he returned, which partly explains that giant 6‑million‑plus comeback episode.
  1. Competition and show format
    • Colbert remains the broadcast leader in total viewers, Gutfeld dominates the cable late‑night space, and Fallon competes heavily for the same mainstream, younger demo.
 * Kimmel leans on recurring segments (like “Mean Tweets,” man‑on‑the‑street bits, pranks, and music) that perform well online and help maintain relevance even when the live linear audience dips.

What forum chatter and “gossip” says

Online discussions and think‑pieces tend to frame “what are Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings” in two clashing ways.

  • One camp says his ratings are “plummeting,” pointing to:
    • The drop from nearly 2 million early in 2025 to just over 1.1 million in August 2025.
* The fact that Fox’s Gutfeld often beats him and that Colbert is still ahead on broadcast.
  • The other camp argues the picture is more nuanced:
    • His annual averages have actually crept up again into the ~2 million range with a roughly 14% bump vs. 2024 in some recent tallies.
* Viral clips and social engagement mean his real influence is bigger than the nightly linear numbers alone suggest.

You’ll also see satirical and forum posts joking about his ratings “soaring” or “cratering,” but those usually blend humor, politics, and fan rivalry more than hard data.

Bottom line (as of early 2026)

  • On the narrow question “what are Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings?” :
    • Typical nightly linear viewership lately hovers around ~2 million, with around ~0.2–0.3 million in the 18–49 demo, and occasional special nights multiple times higher.
  • The broader story is that he’s a long‑running late‑night host in a shrinking linear TV space, still competitive but no longer the clear ratings leader, surviving on a mix of network loyalty, online virality, and a politically charged persona that both helps and hurts his numbers.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.