{"id":538968,"date":"2026-07-22T17:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/538968\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T17:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:49:11","slug":"jimmy-kimmel-on-ratings-stephen-colbert-as-guest-host-and-millionaire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/538968\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel on Ratings, Stephen Colbert as Guest Host and Millionaire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThere\u2019s no certain proof, but it appears that the cancellation of CBS\u2019 \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert\u201d has given an early boost to ABC\u2019s \u201cJimmy Kimmel<\/a> Live.\u201d Before Kimmel went on his regular summer sabbatical, he pulled off a record-breaking June: The show averaged 3.15 million viewers, making it the show\u2019s best-ever monthly audience, ever. Over 23 years of \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live<\/a>!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe ratings are very strong, which we are very grateful to CBS for their wisdom,\u201d Kimmel slyly told Variety. \u201cWe were doing pretty well before that, but that really helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDoes this mean orphaned Colbert fans have found a new home? \u201cI\u2019ve always thought of our show as an orphanage,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d was up 17% from May in viewers (2.69 million) and up 109% in adults 18 to 49 vs. the previous month (0.37 rating vs. 0.18 rating). That made for the best performance in the demo in six years (since April 2020).<\/p>\n

\n\tOverall, this was quite a season for \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d \u2014 don\u2019t forget, the entire mess of a controversy that saw him suspended for a few days was back in September. For the full TV season, \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d was up 34% from last season (2.62 million vs. 1.95 million) and up 32% in adults 18 to 49 (0.22 rating vs. 0.17 rating). It was the most-watched season for the show since 2014-2015.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a reminder that even though viewership has shifted to YouTube and other social platforms, there\u2019s still a sizable audience watching late night on linear. \u201cIt\u2019s silly how people go wild about a podcast that\u2019s No. 5, and the numbers still don\u2019t even compare to a television show,\u201d Kimmel says. \u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of people watching late night television, and I include the other shows in that. And there are still a lot of people looking at our shows on YouTube the next day, and there\u2019s a lot of people who are interested in what we have to say. They may just may not necessarily be watching it on their TV, but it seems like a little bit of people are coming back to their old friend television.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Kimmel is off on his summer break, \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d has returned to its rotation of guest hosts, including Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, Colman Domingo, Rosie O\u2019Donnell and Jelly Roll. And yes, Kimmel told Variety that he asked Colbert if he\u2019d like to guest host \u2014 but Colbert politely declined.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOf course, I asked him, and I think it feels premature,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cBut I told him, \u2018anytime you want to host, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the summer, I\u2019ll gladly step aside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, while it may be summer break for Kimmel in late night, he returns to primetime on Wednesday, July 22, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC for this year\u2019s new celebrity-fueled edition of \u201cWho Wants to Be a Millionaire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI like doing it, it\u2019s a lot easier than my show, and the drama makes it fun,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cIt really feels like batting practice, somebody\u2019s throwing balls and you\u2019re just swinging. You don\u2019t have to sit there and figure out what you\u2019re going to do, what you\u2019re going to say. There\u2019s no writing involved, really. It\u2019s nice to just be there, relying on your wits. People can watch as a community, you can watch it with your kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tContinuing the trend from recent seasons, celebrities are paired up as they try to win money for charity.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think people are more decisive when they\u2019re playing alone,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cBecause there\u2019s no one to talk to, and there\u2019s no one to discuss with. I think they take more time when it\u2019s a duo, for sure. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBen Affleck joins game show champion Jamie Ding (Disney\/Eric McCandless)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney<\/p>\n

\n\tThis year\u2019s season opens with Ben Affleck, paired with \u201cJeopardy!\u201d champion Jamie Ding. It\u2019s a bit of a sequel to last year\u2019s opener, which paired Matt Damon with \u201cJeopardy\u201d winner and host Ken Jennings.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not sure Ben knew that he was paired with a champion when he agreed to do the show,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cBut when I told him, he seemed surprised and delighted. I think he was prepared to do it on his own. He\u2019s very smart, that Ben Affleck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso on the first episode, Larry David and daughter Cazzie David play the game. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLarry David was every bit as Larry David as you would hope he would be,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cHe showed up questioning why he was there, trying to figure that out. He was perturbed at every question. But I think he had fun. He played with his daughter, Cazzie, and she was nervous, and that\u2019s always hard when it\u2019s a family team, because you tend to know the same stuff. I felt like I was on an episode of \u2018Curb Your Enthusiasm,\u2019 which is how I feel every single time I\u2019m with Larry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLarry David teams up with his daughter, Cazzie David (Disney\/Eric McCandless)<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDisney<\/p>\n

\n\tHere are a few more contestants this season, and Kimmel\u2019s thoughts:<\/p>\n

\n\tColin Jost & Michael Che: \u201cI don\u2019t really know those guys. I learned that Michael is very decisive, and Colin is not, and in a battle of between the decisive and indecisive, the indecisive always wins. Colin was really weighing things out. In general on \u2018Millionaire,\u2019 whatever your first thought is is probably the right answer unless you really have no idea. But people have a tendency to blurt out what they think is the answer, and then they take a long time talking themselves out of that correct answer, and usually they\u2019ll come back to the correct answer, but sometimes they talk themselves out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMichael Keaton & Jon Lovett: \u201cThey met on the set. We asked Michael Keaton to do it, and he said yes. And then we asked, who do you want your partner to be, and he listens to \u2018Pod Save America.\u2019 So he picked John Lovett, and, and they had fantastic chemistry. Even though they didn\u2019t know each other, I think John is friends with Michael\u2019s son, so there was a connection there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWill Forte & Taran Killam: \u201cHilarious together, really funny together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBrad Paisley & Clayton Kershaw: \u201cA fun duo. Clayton Kershaw did well. Sometimes you worry with the athletes, but he was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPaul Scheer & Rob Huebel: \u201cVery smart and very funny ont heshow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTig Notaro & Pete Holmes: \u201cShe pretends to be less smart than she actually is, and it made for a very funny dynamic between them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJason Alexander & Wayne Knight: \u201cWhenever you see people who spent a lot of time together and who have a lot of shared experiences, it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s also just kind of fun to see them together, especially if you watched \u2018Seinfeld.\u2019 It always reminds me of the episode of \u2018Cheers\u2019 where Cliff went on \u2018Jeopardy.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTimothy Simons & Jackie Tohn: \u201cIt\u2019s best when they argue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBilly Porter & Leslie Odom Jr.: \u201cBilly was Leslie\u2019s teacher in musical theater school, and so that was interesting, that dynamic between them. Like a mentor\/mentee situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJesse Eisenberg & Paul Giamatti: \u201cWe ask them beforehand what their areas of expertise are, just to give us something to talk about. Jesse Eisenberg and Paul Giamatti have deep areas of knowledge. They are built for this game, those two, and they were great together. They just made a movie together, so they were really in the pocket as far as chemistry goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSarah Jane Nader & Brooks Nader: \u201cNot related to Ralph.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOther pairings include Michael Kosta & Wendi McLendon-Covey, Awkwafina & Paul Feig, and Krysten Ritter & Sarah Shahi.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWho Wants To Be A Millionaire,\u201d from Sony Pictures Television\u2019s Embassy Row and Kimmelot, is executive produced by Michael Davies and Jimmy Kimmel. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television\u2019s Embassy Row and Kimmelot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no certain proof, but it appears that the cancellation of CBS\u2019 \u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,688,7182,111,139,69,437,5067,257203],"class_list":["post-538968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-jimmy-kimmel","tag-jimmy-kimmel-live","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tv","tag-tv-ratings","tag-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}