As late night hosts and their parent companies field attacks from President Donald Trump and his administration’s pressure on entertainment giants, ratings for their programs have held strong — and even seen some big viewership spikes.
Jimmy Kimmel had only been back from his hosting hiatus from “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for just over two weeks before his comments about Charlie Kirk’s murderer prompted affiliate owners Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, and then ABC, to yank him off the air on Sept. 17. His Monday and Tuesday shows during the week of Sept. 15 averaged 1.96 million viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-three-day panel figures, marking an uptick from the previous two weeks, which averaged 1.56 million viewers and 1.43 million viewers, respectively.
Then came a nationwide debate over the government’s ability to dictate free speech in a controversy that swept up everyone from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Trump himself.
By the time Kimmel returned to ABC the following Tuesday on Sept. 23, his broadcasts during the week of Sept. 22 averaged 4.21 million viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-three-day panel plus big data figures.
The week’s numbers were undoubtably boosted by the massive viewership for his return on Tuesday, which scored 6.26 million total viewers in just linear live-plus-same-day viewing. Viewership for the week of Sept. 22 more than doubled viewership for the previous weeks, though it should be noted that between this time the measurement shifted to include Nielsen’s new big data plus panel measurement.
The same trend can be seen in the key broadcast demo among adults 18-49, with the week of Sept. 22 scoring a 0.49 rating, more than doubling the 0.18 rating averaged by the week of Sept. 15, and more than tripling the 0.15 rating that “Kimmel” averaged during the week of Sept. 8.
It’s also notable that while “Kimmel” was reinstated on ABC on Tuesday, Sept. 23, it took until the following Friday for Nexstar and Sinclair to restore the show to their owned and operated channels, meaning that the late night program was not shown in 23% of U.S. TV households until Friday, yet still generated that massive audience. Those without access to Kimmel, as well as others invested in his return, might’ve watched his return on YouTube, which had over 15 million views by the next day.
While there were reports of Kimmel facing a ratings drop in the week following his return, a slight drop was inevitable after drawing an unprecedented audience for the comeback episode. Full live-plus-three-day figures for the week of Sept. 29 are not yet available.
Despite the viewership spikes over the past few weeks, “Kimmel” remained steady in its year-over-year quarter ratings, with 2025’s third quarter averaging 1.37 million viewers and a rating of 0.12, down slightly from last year’s viewership of 1.44 million and 0.14 rating.
Kimmel wasn’t the only late show host to see a boost from his suspension.
After CBS abruptly canceled “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in mid-July, which came days after Colbert had called the network’s $16 million settlement with the Trump administration “a big fat bribe,” viewership saw a spike over the next few weeks.
After averaging 2.56 million viewers during the week of July 14 (the week of the cancellation), according to live-plus-three-day figures from Nielsen’s panel, “The Late Show” grew its audience by 19.4% to reach 3.06 million viewers during the week of July 21, and remained elevated in subsequent weeks, with 3.01 million viewers for the week of July 28 and 2.72 million viewers for the week of Aug. 4. Viewership leveled off later on but notably saw a spike during the week of Sept. 15 amid Kimmel’s suspension, with the week averaging 2.9 million viewers.
Viewership has leveled off in recent weeks, with “The Late Show” averaging 2.65 million viewers during the week of Sept. 22 and 2.64 million viewers during the week of Sept. 29, according to Nielsen live-plus-three-day Nielsen big data plus panel figures.
As “The Late Show” enters its last season on air (it’s due to wrap up in May 2026), viewership was up year-over-year, with the third quarter averaging 2.84 million viewers — up 14% from last year’s 2.5 million viewers.
Ratings for NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” held steady as well, with both shows seeing viewership spikes in tandem with NFL lead-ins, including during the week of Sept. 15, with “Fallon” averaging 1.27 million viewers and “Meyers” averaging 776,000 viewers. Ratings data for “The Daily Show” was not available upon TheWrap’s request.
The power of late night came together on Tuesday, Sept. 30, when Colbert and Meyers appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The episode scored a solid audience of 2.46 million total viewers and brought in a 0.20 among adults 18-49 in Nielsen live-plus-same-day big data plus panel figures.
MLB Wild Card Series sets ESPN records
The 2025 MLB Wild Card Series brought in 4.63 million viewers across 11 games on ESPN platforms, soaring 64% when compared to last year to become the most watched series under the current format. The series also saw viewership growth among younger audiences, with viewers under 35 years old growing 89% year-over-year and kids 17 and under growing by 108%.
Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” makes quiet Apple TV+ debut
After Apple TV+ added the crime thriller to its catalogue on Sept. 5, “Highest 2 Lowest” tallied 281 million minutes viewed during its opening weekend to rank as the No. 7 most-watched streaming movie during the week of Sept. 1 on Nielsen’s streaming charts. Per Nielsen, the movie was watched primarily by millennials and Gen X (with 65% of the audience being comprised of adults 35-64), and had the highest concentration of Black viewers of any title during the week, at 40%.
49ers-Rams game scores gains for Prime Video
Thursday’s NFL 49ers-Rams averaged 14.79 million viewers on Prime Video, peaking with 17.01 million viewers between 11:00 and 11:14 p.m. ET (the latest recorded peak audience ever for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video) as the 49ers claimed victory in overtime. The game was up 20% from last season’s comparable game (the Bucs-Falcons game on Oct. 3, 2024, which scored 12.3 million viewers), and was also up 20% over last season’s Thursday Night Football game between the Rams and the 49ers, which scored 12.29 million viewers on Dec. 12, 2024.
