Jimmy Kimmel Gets Midnight Start as ‘Nightline’ Gets Shorter

Late night gets slightly more funny, less newsy

If you're an insomniac with a doctor who says not to watch so much news at night, and you only have access to one network, and it happens to be ABC — then have we got news for you.

ABC is scaling back news warhorse "Nightline" by six minutes to give "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the midnight start time its host has long desired, ABC confirmed. "Kimmel" will add six minutes and still end at 1:06 a.m.

The move was part of Kimmel's two-year contract extension, starting next month, which will take the show into its tenth season.

"The earlier you're on, the better," Kimmel told USA Today. "More people are going to watch, so that's why it's important to me."

He said s ABC would shift national ad time to his show from "Nightline."

"It's a complicated thing, but essentially, ABC will make more money by moving me up," he said.

And as part of the agreement, "Nightline" will get a 13-episode series later this year called "NIghtline in Primetime," with details to be decided later.

Now have a nice cup of coffee.

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