Kimmel

The controversy surrounding the Jimmy Kimmel show is being explained in two ways depending on politics. Liberals contend that the FCC threatened the network and they folded out of fear of losing their license. Conservatives say Kimmel was shut down because of ratings and his remarks about Kirk were just the straw that broke the camels back. The ratings of late-night TV shows have been on the decline for years an in particular the last ten years. In 2015 Kimmel averaged 2.4 million viewers and that dropped to 1.5 million by 2021. Average viewers in the critical 18 – 49 demo dropped from 1 million in 2015 to 261,000 in 2025. Ad revenues declined from $439 million in 2018 to $220 million last year. While all the major late-night shows were in decline a new late-night show on Fox called Gutfeld started in 2021 with 2 million viewers rising to 3 million today. Much of the decline of the major networks is attributed to the constant negativity against Trump. Overtime, conservative viewers begam to tire of the constant anti Trump monologues and many question the wisdom of turning off half of the country. Many feel it was a mistake for the FCC to get involved as these programs were already dying. There is an overall trend in the country for media to move to the right. This includes both print and TV and it is part of the move away from traditional news to social media and podcasts.