Jimmy Kimmel has credited CBS's cancellation of "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" for helping fuel a ratings surge on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", telling Variety he was "very grateful to CBS for their wisdom". He also revealed he invited Colbert to guest host his ABC show during his summer break, though Colbert declined, calling it "premature". The comments come as Kimmel's programme enjoys its strongest performance in years, a notable moment given the shifting landscape of late-night television and competition from podcasts and streaming.

Before his summer hiatus, Kimmel's June audience averaged 3.15 million viewers, the best monthly figure in the show's 23-year history, up 17% on May and up 109% among adults 18-49, the best demo performance since April 2020. Across the full season the show was up 34% in viewers and 32% in the key demographic compared with the previous year, its most-watched season since 2014-15. With Kimmel away, guest hosts including Tiffany Haddish, Anthony Anderson and Rosie O'Donnell are filling in, while Kimmel returns to primetime on 22 July for a new celebrity edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".