‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Moving to Midnight on ABC, Will Become Longest Late Night Talk Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live! will start a little earlier than before, starting February 3.
The late night talk show, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, follows ABC’s Nightline and currently starts at 12:05am. With the change in place, the talk show will start five minutes earlier at midnight. Live will still end at 1:06am, which makes it a 66-minute show and, time wise, the longest-running late night talk show on television.
"The earlier you're on, the better," Kimmel told USA Today. "Most people are going to watch, so that's why it's important to me.”
The move is part of Kimmel’s two-year contract extension. The show is in it’s tenth season.
Nightline, which follows local news at 11:35pm, averages 3.9 million viewers and has been on for 30 years. It will be trimmed by six minutes, which allows notational ad time for both Nightline and Kimmel.
"It's a complicated thing, but essentially, ABC will make more money by moving me up,” Kimmel added.
“The move better leverages the strength and value [of both shows and] gives Jimmy the chance to leverage that strong lead-in more effectively with a quicker connection to late-night viewers," said Disney/ABC Television Group chief Anne Sweeney.
Shorter editions of Nightline and longer episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live begin airing February 3.