ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' hemorrhaged viewers over past decade, lost 72% among key demo.

President Donald Trump suggested that ABC "indefinitely" pulled "Jimmy 
Kimmel Live!" largely because of poor ratings, and a look at the late-
night program’s audience reveals a steady decline over the past decade. 

The entertainment industry was stunned on Wednesday when Disney announced 
it would pull ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the foreseeable future. The 
company faced mounting pressure from ABC affiliate stations around the 
country, as well as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), over 
controversial comments the late-night host made about the assassination of 
conservative icon Charlie Kirk. 

"Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything 
else," Trump told reporters on Thursday. 

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" has seen its ratings drop significantly over the past 
decade, as the program averaged 2.4 million viewers in 2015 and has been 
trending downward ever since. Kimmel’s program averaged 2.2 million in 
2016 and 2017, fell to 2.1 million in 2018, dropped to 1.9 million in 2019 
and sunk to 1.8 million in 2020. By 2021, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" managed only 
1.5 million nightly viewers.

Kimmel’s 2025 average viewership of 1.6 million is down 37% compared to 
2015 totals. 

However, the decline is even more significant among the advertiser-coveted 
demographic of adults, ages 25-54. 

"Jimmy Kimmel Live" averaged nearly 1 million viewers among the critical 
demo in 2015 but plummeted to only 261,000 in 2025. The ABC late-night 
program shed a staggering 72% of the audience that helps pay the bills 
over the past decade. 

The past decade also coincides with the rise of streaming and cord-
cutting, but not every late-night host is hemorrhaging viewers. "Jimmy 
Kimmel Live" is trailing Fox News Channel’s "Gutfeld!" by significant 
margins. 

In 2025, "Gutfeld!" averaged 3.2 million total viewers to thump Kimmel’s 
average audience of 1.6 million by 107%. When it comes to the advertiser-
coveted 25-54 demographic, "Gutfeld!" has averaged 381,000 compared to 
261,000 for Kimmel as the Fox News program leads by 46%. 

"Gutfeld!" also leads Kimmel among adults, 18-49, with the Fox News late-
night show averaging 248,000 younger viewers compared to 177,000 for the 
ABC offering. 

https://www.foxnews.com/media/abcs-jimmy-kimmel-live-hemorrhaged-viewers-
over-past-decade-lost-72-among-key-demo

Kimmel is just another dive bar bum.  That's all he ever has been.