Kimmel's Return On Sept 23 -- Viewership Data

[ancianita]

Broadcast Viewers: 6.26 million despite...

Impact of Blackouts by 66 ABC affiliates owned by Nexstar and Sinclair, approximately 23% of U.S. TV households missed the episode due to affiliate blackouts.

Historic Performance: The 6.26 million total viewership is the largest ever for a regular episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Online Engagement: The monologue alone received over 26 million views across YouTube and other social media channels.

Demo Performance: The episode also achieved its highest demographic share (18-49) in over a decade, earning a 0.87 rating.

[Lovie777]

1. Well done...............

[UTUSN]

2. K&R

[djacq]

3. Had to watch it on Hulu...

The Washington D.C. ABC-affiliated television station, WJLA-TV (Channel 7), is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pre-emptive by WJLA-TV News.

[pfitz59]

4. Seattle blacked out by Sinclair

watched him on Youtube

[Trueblue1968]

9. Me too. Sinclair blocked our city too

[ancianita]

5. Is it possible that Kimmel watchers can boycott Sinclair?

[Seinan Sensei]

6. I'm boycotting sponsors of my local ABC news

[ancianita]

8. Cool. I'm sure you're not alone.

[NJCher]

14. I like to boycott the sponsors

and if I'm in need of their product, I buy their competitor's and send them the receipt. Quick note telling them how they turned me off and oh, btw, I bought from your competitor 'cuz I needed the item/service.

I've gotten some interesting reactions from this.

[ancianita]

16. Interesting! I like the way you think.

[llmart]

22. That's a great idea.

I never thought about that.

[AdamGG]

29. It wouldn't be hard to get a viral list

Last edited Wed Sep 24, 2025, 11:45 PM - Edit history (1)

of the advertisers on all of the Sinclair affiliates blocking Kimmel's show. That would explode on social media quickly and then I bet Elon would try to shut it down.

[mwooldri]

30. I sort-of personally can.

Outdoor antenna. I'm in NE Greensboro, can get all the Greensboro specific stations, and a good number of Raleigh and Roanoke stations. Our ABC is a Sinclair, Roanoke's a Sinclair. Raleigh is a Disney. So goodbye WXLV, hello WTVD.

Even with Nexstar buying Tegna we will have a choice of CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, CW and My broadcast network owners. Though Gray and Hearst are also big media conglomerates, Capitol Broadcasting are one of the few family station owners; owning two full power network stations and two small low power independent stations. Though Capitol is right wing, it was the home of Jesse Helms after all.

[a kennedy]

7. His opening was absolutely perfect....perfect.

and I am soooooooooooo glad he’s back. 🥰 🥰 🥰

[bagimin]

24. Pitch perfect,

that opening. The wife and I agree.

[Gimpyknee]

10. And better yet - no apology.

[ancianita]

26. Nope!

[malaise]

11. Integrity pays

Rec

[LoisB]

12. Yes!

[AdamGG]

13. I wonder if there's any possibility that ABC could switch their affiliates in Sinclair markets to other stations

I know nothing about this and am speculating out of my ass - which makes me more insightful than the President of the United States.

There's probably long term affiliate contracts that give those stations the right to not air programming that they choose. But, it would be beautiful if Sinclair stations could lose their network affiliation and instead have Matlock reruns as the lead in to their right wing local news.

[Hugin]

20. With stunts like this broadcast stations are only bringing on their own demise.

It pushes folks who aren’t streaming already to dip their toes.

[MurrayDelph]

23. I'm wondering how to file a complaint to the FCC

By blacking out the Jimmy Kimmel show they are showing themselves to not be an honest broker for the public resource they hold, to the point that not only should they NOT be awarded with a waiver of the 39% limit, they should revisit the ownership they already have.

[AdamGG]

28. This FCC would only take action

If the affiliates were guilty of reporting actual news or maybe trying to hire a diverse staff.

[mwooldri]

31. Depends.

Yes, affiliates can choose to preempt network programming for any and no reason. Sports programming overruns are an obvious example of this.

Yes, once an affiliate agreement ends, a network owner can choose not to renew it with that particular station. Rare but it does happen - usually coincides with a specific event - in the 2010s Fox bought WJZY and WMYT in Charlotte NC from Capitol Broadcasting, and in 2013 ended up swapping the Fox and CW affiliations between WJZY and WCCB (the then Fox affiliate for Charlotte). Fox wanted to own and operate its own affiliate in Charlotte being a NFL city. Usually station ownership changes are the big reason affiliates swap.

Practicalities though may get in the way. I have no means to go through all TV markets but in some smaller markets they could all be owned by Sinclair and Nexstar and no-one else. In larger markets the networks themselves may own their own affiliates (obvious example being NYC's WABC, WCBS and WNBC) so that could complicate any affiliation swaps.

[Hugin]

15. TOFU...

Yet, the MAGAts love him. Go figure.

[ancianita]

18. TOFU?

[Hugin]

19. It's a companion to TACO...

“Trump Only F**ks Up.”

[ancianita]

21. This one is way better! thanks!

[calimary]

25. Good one!

[mcar]

17. Just watched his open on YouTube

Spot on!

[MW67]

27. The Ratings were off the charts, Huge crowd!

The largest crowd to EVER watch a late night show , the best ratings ever, bar none. He's a genius, absolutely brilliant , absolutely brilliant, that's what lots of people say., a real blessing to the network he works for, everyone loves him. Sometimes people come up to me and say , you know what ? That Kimmel is a genius and a brave patriot , real American. But.. look how unfairly he has been treated by the radicals who are trying to destroy our big beautiful country, these are very bad people, really nasty, probably the the worst people anywhere ,very very nasty bad people. All this has to end now and those ugly nasty bad people are going to be very sorry they tried to silence my Jimmy.😁

[Cha]

32. Whoa.. Over 26 Million of Us!!

TY, ancianita!