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Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em><\/a> received a massive boost in ratings when the show returned from its temporary suspension<\/a> last Tuesday (September 23), but how has the late-night show been faring in the days since?<\/p>\n Kimmel\u2019s Tuesday night return was watched by 6.3 million viewers,<\/a> making it the second most-watched broadcast in the show\u2019s history and more than tripling its regular viewership. The return came after Disney and ABC suspended Kimmel for comments he made on-air about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk<\/a>.<\/p>\n The suspension followed the refusal of powerful station group Nexstar to air the show on its 32 broadcast affiliates. Fellow station group Sinclair soon followed suit. Nexstar and Sinclair continued to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> last week after its return until Friday (September 26), when both groups lifted the ban.<\/a><\/p>\n Kimmel\u2019s ratings were down for the Thursday (September 25) broadcast, according to Fox News<\/em><\/a>, which reports that an average of 2.23 million total viewers tuned into the show. This was down 64 per cent from Tuesday\u2019s big return show.<\/p>\n However, despite the drop, the show\u2019s ratings are still significantly higher compared to what they were averaging in the second quarter of 2025. According to The Independent<\/em><\/a>, Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> was averaging approximately 1.77 million total viewers in Quarter 2.<\/p>\n Kimmel addressed the ratings talk on Monday\u2019s show (September 29), the first in a week of broadcasts from the Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. The comedian aired a clip of Vice President JD Vance<\/a> on Fox News, who claimed certain stations aren\u2019t airing the show because \u201c[Kimmel] is not funny and because his ratings aren\u2019t very good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have some good news for you, J-Dog. We\u2019re back on all the stations,\u201d Kimmel retorted. \u201cEvery home, every bar, every strip club and every prison in America. But, sorry, I didn\u2019t mean to interrupt your bulls***. Go on.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Vance\u2019s comments about Kimmel\u2019s ratings, the late-night host responded, \u201cMy<\/em> ratings aren\u2019t very good? Your ratings are somewhere between a hair in your salad and chlamydia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn three-and-a-half years, I\u2019m not the one who\u2019s gonna be doing mascara tutorials on YouTube,\u201d he continued. \u201cHow did we wind up with a president and vice president who wear more makeup than Kylie Jenner and Lady Gaga combined?\u201d<\/p>\n