'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Sees Ratings Spike
Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show has experienced a boost in ratings after being moved to a new time slot this week.
ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" moved to the new 11:35 p.m. time slot on Tuesday, putting the show in direct competition with CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" and NBC's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
"I think he deserves it," said Kathryn Tengono of Studio City, where "Live!" is taped. "He's definitely paid his dues in the late-night business," she was quoted by Mercury News.
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Kimmel's friend Jennifer Aniston stopped by "Live!" on Tuesday to help ring in the new time slot.
The show went on to earn 3.1 million viewers for ABC with the new time, but the ratings were not high enough to beat Leno's "Tonight Show," which saw 3.3 million viewers.
Coming in third place for the night, Letterman's "Late Show" attracted 2.9 million viewers, according to E! News.
Despite his win over Letterman, Kimmel remains modest.
"If I beat David Letterman in the ratings, does that mean I'm better than Letterman?" Kimmel recently reasoned with Rolling Stone magazine. "No [expletive] way."
The 45-year-old television host has, however, voiced his opinion of another fellow late night show host- Leno.
"As a comedian, you can't not have disdain for what's he's done," Kimmel told The New York Daily News of Leno. "He totally sold out."
In what sounds like a backhanded compliment, Kimmel compared Leno to "a master chef who opened a Burger King."
Kimmel's comments arrived after the reported feud between Letterman and Leno.
Meanwhile, Kimmel has been measured against another contemporary talk show host, Jimmy Fallon.
"People are going to compare me and him for years to come- we're positioned as the Leno and Letterman of the next round," Kimmel explained to E! News. "I like it, because he's a very worthy competitor."
