‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ABC Ratings Pale in Comparison to YouTube Viewership, YouTube Exec Claims
ROME – The return of Jimmy Kimmel to Jimmy Kimmel Live! generated a significant ratings boost for ABC, but YouTube’s Head of Business Strategy and Operations, EMEA, Luca Forlin, asserts the show’s performance on the Google-owned platform far exceeded its linear television viewership. Speaking today at MIA Market in Rome, Forlin highlighted the disparity as a demonstration of YouTube’s reach and potential for content creators.
Kimmel resumed hosting his late-night show on September 23, following a suspension related to comments made regarding Charlie Kirk. While the episode drew 6.5 million live+same day viewers – becoming ABC’s second-most watched episode ever – the YouTube version, titled ’Jimmy Kimmel is back!’, amassed 22 million views within two weeks of its broadcast. Additional related videos further contributed to YouTube’s overall audience gains.
“It was a huge moment, and he had a huge audience spike, but even that audience spike on linear paled in comparison to what YouTube gained in terms of audience,” Forlin stated. He described a typical “multiplier effect” of 4x to 10x between linear and YouTube viewership for live streaming and live events.
Forlin used the Jimmy Kimmel Live! example to encourage Italian producers and creatives to explore opportunities on YouTube, including content monetization and platform-specific growth. He further illustrated YouTube’s rapid scale by comparing Netflix’s viewership of Squid Game to a similar recreation by top YouTuber MrBeast.
“Netflix had announced after six months that about 400 million people had viewed the series,” Forlin explained. “MrBeast replicated with his own Squid Game, and it took only a few weeks to reach 400 million viewers. That’s the speed and scale that YouTube operates at, and it’s there for you.”