Jimmy Kimmel’s ratings high influenced by his temporary hiatus from ABC has largely come to an end, according to new Nielsen ratings released this week.

Last week, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” ranked 73rd among the top 100 broadcast television programs, averaging 2.2 million viewers with a 0.7 share. Its viewership was nearly 34 percent lower compared to the prior week, when Kimmel’s show was the 44th most-watched program on television with nearly 3.3 million viewers and a 1.0 share.

The viewership counts were far below the 6.26 million viewers Kimmel’s first broadcast had following his government-influenced suspension in early September. ABC put the program on a week-long hiatus after two large broadcast groups balked over Kimmel’s remarks that were critical of President Donald Trump’s reaction to the fatal shooting of political activist Charlie Kirk.

The two broadcasters, Nexstar and Sinclair, threatened to pre-empt Kimmel’s program from their ABC affiliates — around 60 in total — hours after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr threatened ABC with unspecified regulatory penalties. Carr encouraged the owners of ABC affiliates to pull the program in response to the monologue — something that drew widespread condemnations from politicians in both parties. Sinclair and Nexstar have pending business deals that require FCC approval; both broadcasters denied those deals influenced their actions.

Kimmel’s average weekly viewership has dropped 65 percent since his highly-rated episode after his week-long hiatus. Despite the audience erosion, Jimmy Kimmel Live is still the most-watched late-night talk show on broadcast TV. By comparison, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS went from 87th place during the week of September 22 to 92nd place during the week of September 29. The highest-rated episode of NBC’s “Tonight Show” ranked 157th among broadcast TV shows, Nielsen data showed.

Among the top 250 weekly TV broadcasts, which includes cable TV programming, Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC ranked 106th during the September 29 measurement week, while the most-viewed episode of The Late Show on CBS clocked on at 187th. The Tonight Show on NBC was not among the top 250 weekly broadcasts at all.

“Gutfeld!”, the late night program hosted by Greg Gutfeld on Fox News, remained the top late-night variety program on all television, with its highest-rated episode ranking 87th and attracting 3.32 million viewers last week.

The Nielsen data comes from its “Big Data + Panels” measurement product, which combines traditional broadcast and cable TV audience data with streaming signals. The viewership data is based on “Live + Same Day” reportings, which includes viewership of recorded programs on DVRs.

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