Jimmy Kimmel has been skating on thin ice for years with his cheap political shots and sanctimonious late-night rants. But his reckless attempt to tie Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin to the MAGA movement may finally have pushed him — and his flailing show — over the edge.
ABC affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair weren’t just displeased with his comments. They were offended. Sinclair even went a step further, demanding a formal apology before any suspension could be lifted and pressing ABC to take real steps toward “professionalism and accountability.” That’s not the language of a slap on the wrist. That’s the language of a network partner that’s had enough.
But here’s the part no one in the liberal press wants to admit: this isn’t just about Kimmel’s disgraceful remarks. It’s about his ratings collapse.
Nielsen data shows Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been in freefall. By August 2025, the show had plunged to just 1.1 million viewers — a 43% drop from January’s numbers and the weakest household rating of the year at 0.35. In the advertiser-coveted 18–49 demographic, the numbers were even more dire: only 129,000 viewers. That’s less than half his June peak and nowhere near enough to justify his massive ABC contract, which runs through May 2026.
And now, out. https://t.co/j31RUEGjWb
— Brit Hume (@brithume) September 18, 2025
As Brit Hume and Byron York put it bluntly: Kimmel’s ratings — like those of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon — have been going “down, down, down.” And when York finished, Hume added the obvious: “And now, out.”
Contrast that with Fox’s Gutfeld!, which has dominated late-night by doing the one thing comedians are supposed to do: actually be funny. Greg Gutfeld has consistently pulled in an average of 2.76 million viewers, beating all his broadcast competitors and proving that audiences aren’t rejecting late-night comedy itself — they’re rejecting the unfunny political lectures disguised as comedy.
Kimmel’s downfall is a case study in what happens when late-night hosts forget their job description. The constant Trump-bashing, the smug demonization of conservative America, and the outright propaganda may win applause in elite media circles, but it’s poison to the broader viewing public. Night after night, audiences voted with their remotes.
And now, advertisers and affiliates are getting the message too.
