Jimmy Kimmel Thanks CBS for His Ratings Boost After Network Axed Stephen Colbert

Screenshot via ABC

Jimmy Kimmel mockingly thanked executives at rival network CBS for his own show’s unexpected ratings windfall, crediting the network’s axing of late-night host Stephen Colbert for giving Jimmy Kimmel Live! its strongest monthly audience in its 23-year history.

Speaking to Variety, Kimmel offered some tongue-in-cheek gratitude to CBS after his show averaged 3.15 million viewers in June, its biggest monthly audience since the show launched in 2003.

“The ratings are very strong, which we are very grateful to CBS for their wisdom,” the late-night host said. “We were doing pretty well before that, but that really helped.”

When pressed on whether Colbert’s audience had migrated to ABC following the veteran host’s departure, Kimmel quipped: “I’ve always thought of our show as an orphanage.”

The ratings jump followed the conclusion of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which signed off in May after CBS announced it was ending the long-running franchise.

According to Nielsen figures cited in the article, Jimmy Kimmel Live! then saw a 17% jump in viewers in June and was up 34% from the previous season, making the current run its most-watched season since 2014-15.

CBS announced last July that it would end The Late Show, a decision that came days after Colbert criticized Paramount, the network’s parent company, over its $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump. The settlement resolved Trump’s lawsuit alleging that CBS News program 60 Minutes deceptively edited a 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

The timing of the cancellation fueled speculation about the reason for the move, though CBS maintained the decision was financial and unrelated to the host’s criticism.

Kimmel also revealed to the magazine that he’d invited Colbert to host an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! while he was on summer break, but that the comedian had declined.

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