Overview
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged 3.15 million viewers in June 2026, the show’s best monthly audience in its 23-year run, with a 17% month-to-month total-audience gain and a roughly 109% jump in adults 18–49.
- Kimmel told Variety he sarcastically thanked CBS for the boost and said he invited Stephen Colbert to guest-host during Kimmel’s summer break, a request Colbert declined as “premature.”
- Kimmel is now off for his planned summer hiatus while a rotation of guest hosts — including Tiffany Haddish, Ike Barinholtz, Colman Domingo, Rosie O’Donnell and Jelly Roll — fills the 11:35 p.m. slot.
- CBS says it ended The Late Show for financial reasons, but coverage highlights timing around Paramount’s reported $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump and merger approvals that have fueled questions about political influence.
- The spike underscores that linear Nielsen ratings still matter for late night even as digital views grow, and it could prompt more schedule shifts and guest-host strategies as networks respond to displaced audiences.