ABC Signs Jimmy Kimmel to a New Deal Months After Affiliate Revolt
The article discusses the recent developments regarding comedian Jimmy Kimmel and his television career. After a controversial incident where Kimmel spread false data about the identity of the shooter involved in Charlie Kirk’s assassination,ABC temporarily pulled his show off the air. Despite widespread criticism and backlash, kimmel returned quickly without a meaningful apology, which did not satisfy some groups like Turning Point USA. Still, ABC has recently extended Kimmel’s contract for another year, allowing his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” too continue airing through May 2027. Although Kimmel experienced a brief ratings increase upon his return, his viewership quickly declined and remains significantly behind competitors, especially Fox News. The decision to renew his contract despite these low ratings has sparked sarcastic reactions on social media.
It wasn’t that long ago that pundits and talking heads were throwing a collective fit over ABC yanking comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the airwaves.
If you’ll recall, Kimmel peddled a vile lie about the identity of the Charlie Kirk shooter shortly after the assassination, which led to swift backlash and him getting pulled from the air.
The outcries over this were vocal, angry, and frequent — but may have been a bit premature in hindsight.
Not only did Kimmel return within a week, he didn’t really have to apologize for his remarks, either.
(His “apology” certainly wasn’t good enough for the organization founded by Kirk, Turning Point USA.)
And now, despite his controversies and flagrantly anti-Donald Trump rhetoric, Kimmel has seemingly been rewarded for his up-and-down year.
According to The Hill, Kimmel has inked a one-year extension with the Disney-owned ABC, which airs “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
This sets up Kimmel’s show to air through May 2027.
The reaction to this news was swift, especially on social media.
ABC made all 85 of his viewers happy.
— Erik-Conservative In Cali 𝕏 (@caliucconserv) December 9, 2025
“ABC made all 85 of his viewers happy,” one sardonic reply to the ABC News announcement said.
And while Kimmel certainly has more than 85 viewers, his ratings have been a point of scrutiny for some time now.
In short, Kimmel’s ratings enjoyed a small bump upon his return from hiatus before swiftly cratering.
Kimmel’s return episode brought in a genuinely impressive 6.48 million viewers.
But within five shows, Kimmel was back down to earth — in a particularly humbling manner.
It took just one show to shed over half of those nearly 6.5 million viewers, as Kimmel’s second night back on air brought in 2.43 million.
Those were the numbers he drew toward the end of September. By October, the bottom had all but fallen out.
On the Oct. 1 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the polarizing funnyman only drew 1.7 million viewers — a figure much closer to what he had been drawing before his short-lived suspension.
Compared to his competitors, especially on Fox News, Kimmel’s ratings are lagging mightily behind.
But apparently, those lackluster viewership numbers were still good enough to net the funnyman another year on cable television.
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