Jimmy Kimmel’s powerful return to air in the wake of the Los Angeles wildfires earned a spike in viewership last week, according to Nielsen ratings and ABC. The network has revealed that during the week of Jan. 13, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was up 45% in adults 18-49 vs. the previous week (0.16 vs. 0.11), making it the No. 1 late night show of the week in the demo.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” was forced to cancel episodes the previous week due to fires that raged through the Los Angeles area, causing mass destruction particularly in the Pacific Palisades area and in the community of Altadena. Other fires included one in Hollywood’s Runyon Canyon, not fare from where “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is produced.
When “Jimmy Kimmel Live” returned with a new episode on Jan. 13, guests included Snoop Dogg, Roy Wood Jr. and Altadena musical group Dawes. That show spiked with a 0.31 rating in the demo, leading the night among all talkers. The show also won Tuesday night that week with guests including Bill Burr, Jessica Gunning and Neal Francis. And the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” YouTube channel attracted 19.3 million views that week.
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Also throughout last week, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” turned the parking lot behind the show’s studio — where normally live outdoor music performances are staged — to serve as a donation point for essential items to be distributed to those who need them, including bottled water and Gatorade, baby food, pet food, non-perishable food Items, toiletries/hygiene products, socks/underwear, diapers and baby wipes. The show also added a banner of support for L.A.’s first responders that was hung in front of its Hollywood studio.
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“As you know, it has been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in LA – where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school,” Kimmel opened his monologue on the Jan. 13 show, noting that the “JKL” studios had to evacuate because of its close proximity to the fires in Runyon Canyon. ““Many of us had to leave our homes in a hurry,” he said. “Some of our co-workers lost their homes. It’s been terrible. Everyone who lives in this city knows someone — most of us, multiple people — families, friends, colleagues, neighbors whose houses burned down.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say it has been a sickening, shocking, awful experience,” he added. “But it also been, in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience because once again, we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other. People who lost their own homes were out volunteering in parking lots, helping others who lost theirs.”
Separately, in other ABC ratings news last week, the Jan. 14 of freshman hit “High Potential” scored another series high in multiplatform ratings with total viewers (13.19 million) and adults 18-49 (2.44 rating). Also that night, “Will Trent” landed its best-ever streaming numbers on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+, according to the network; and “The Rookie” landed its best total viewers multiplatform number (9.33 million) in nearly two years.