Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Did You Know?

• On August 15, 2019, ABC and the show were fined $395,000 via a settlement by the FCC for misusing the Emergency Alert System tone on the October 3, 2018, episode.
• On November 11, 2025, Jimmy Kimmel announced via Instagram that friend Cleto Escobedo III, who served as the show's bandleader since its inception in 2003, had died that day.
• In December 2025, Kimmel announced that he had extended his contract by one additional year, with it set to expire in May 2027.

History

After ABC canceled Politically Incorrect in 2002, the network decided to launch a talk show to air after Nightline. Jimmy Kimmel, previously a co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show, entered negotiations for the hosting role in May 2002, with his appointment made public that November. The program premiered on January 26, 2003. Since Nightline traditionally aired at 11:35 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, Jimmy Kimmel Live! initially began after midnight. This marked ABC's first attempt at a conventional late-night talk show since trying to revive The Dick Cavett Show in the 1980s. Earlier efforts to challenge NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson included The Les Crane Show, The Joey Bishop Show (1967–1969), and Jack Paar Tonite (1973). The show faced early obstacles because many ABC affiliates had existing syndication deals for sitcom reruns and entertainment newsmagazines following local news, which delayed the program and made its "Live!" title somewhat inaccurate. It initially trailed Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn in ratings. However, by 2004, it had steadily improved and was capturing roughly half of Leno's audience. On January 8, 2013, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Nightline swapped time slots, moving Kimmel's show to 11:35 p.m. and allowing it to compete more directly with The Tonight Show and CBS's The Late Show.

Production

Despite its name, Jimmy Kimmel Live! has not been broadcast live on a regular basis since 2004, when a guest's sudden profanity overwhelmed the censors. Instead, it is taped at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time on the day it airs, except for special episodes. New episodes ran five nights a week until 2009, after which Friday shows were reruns until 2012. From January 2013, Friday episodes became a highlights reel called Jimmy Kimmel Live! This Week, but the show later returned to airing reruns on Fridays, though occasional new Friday episodes have aired due to current events. Production paused on January 8, 2025, because of Southern California wildfires near the El Capitan filming location, and resumed on January 13. The house band, The Cletones, features Cleto Escobedo Jr. on sax, Jeff Babko on keyboards, Toshi Yanagi on guitar, Rhonda Smith on bass, and Jonathan Dresel on drums. Originally called Cleto and the Cletones, the band was renamed after the death of its original leader, Cleto Escobedo III, on November 17, 2025. The show once had weekly guest co-hosts; parking lot guard Guillermo Rodriguez became the sidekick after being found asleep in announcer Dicky Barrett's car.

Openings

When the show aired at 12:05 ET, it began with a two-minute segment before the theme song, originally a miniature monologue and preview of guests, later expanding to include skits and integrated commercials. These segments were dropped when the show moved to 11:35. The first opening sequence featured a flyover of Hollywood, followed by Kimmel entering the theater after flipping a switch. This was replaced with a stop-motion piece showing Kimmel picking up dry cleaning and stopping at various Hollywood locations. On October 27, 2011, a new opening depicted Kimmel zip-lining through Hollywood. In January 2015, an opening created by Industrial Light & Magic began with Kimmel turning on the lights of Los Angeles from the Hollywood sign, with the background changing to several locations before transforming into the theater. The opening was later shortened, and in 2016, after Kimmel grew out his beard, the sequence was modified to remove Kimmel's presence.

Ratings among late-night talk shows

As of November 2022, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the 20th most popular show on ABC and 97th overall on TV, watched by 1,746,000 people per episode as of the average weekly audience measurement for the period ending January 22, 2023, surpassing The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which was watched by 1,278,000 people. The show has repeatedly dominated late-night talk shows among adults aged 18–49. The Monday broadcast that week was the No. 1 late-night telecast among adults 18-49 (584,000). For the week of September 26, 2022, broadcasting from Brooklyn, it ranked No. 1 among adults 18-49 (301,000). During the week of June 6, 2022, it ranked No. 1 for two weeks in a row among adults 18-49 (443,000). For the 2020–21 television season, it beat The Tonight Show in total viewers.