Jimmy Kimmel‘s return to Brooklyn was an enormous success, with last week’s episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! up 35% on the show’s previous visit to the Big Apple in 2022.
As reported by Variety, citing Nielsen numbers provided by ABC, Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 2.2 million viewers and a 0.22 rating in the key adults 18-49 demo for the week of September 29. This was up 35% with total viewers compared to the 2022 Brooklyn shows, which averaged 1.63 million.
The numbers also put Kimmel’s show above his fellow late-night competition for the week, including The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which averaged 1.96 million viewers and a 0.13 in the demo, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which averaged 1.09 million viewers and a 0.09 in the demo.
In addition, Kimmel’s Brooklyn week was up versus the show’s 2024-2025 season average by 42% in total viewers (previously 1.55 million) and 57% in the 18-49 demo (previously 0.14).
This was the seventh time Kimmel has broadcast his show from the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House.
The ratings success comes after Kimmel’s return to television on September 23. Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended by ABC’s parent company, Disney, last month, after media companies pulled the series from the air in response to comments the host made about Charlie Kirk‘s fatal shooting. Disney lifted the suspension less than a week later.
Kimmel’s return episode averaged 6.3 million viewers, making it the show’s second most-watched episode ever, and a 0.87 in adults 18-49, the show’s best demo rating for a regularly scheduled episode since 2015.
The ratings dropped after the initial surge for the return show, with a 64% decrease between the Tuesday broadcast and the Thursday (September 25) episode, which averaged 2.23 million total viewers.
However, the show’s ratings continue to be significantly higher compared to what they were averaging in the second quarter of 2025. According to The Independent, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was averaging approximately 1.77 million total viewers in Quarter 2.
Kimmel’s Brooklyn shows featured guests such as Ryan Reynolds, Public Enemy, Emily Blunt, Stephen Colbert, Kumail Nanjiani, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Jeremy Allen White, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Hanks, Spike Lee, and more.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35 p.m. ET, ABC