Jimmy Kimmel draws biggest weekly audience since moving time slots

No viral prank here. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is posting his best numbers since his time slot move put him in head-to-head competition with Jay Leno and David Letterman.

For the week of Nov. 18, the latest for which numbers are available, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” drew an average of 2.86-million viewers overall, up 15% compared with the previous week. That’s the biggest audience the show has brought in since it moved to its earlier 11:35 p.m. time in January.

In the 18-to-49 demographic, the age group most coveted by advertisers, the jokester’s program took in 1.05-million viewers, for an increase of 29% week-to-week. Not counting the weeks that were boosted by the NBA Finals in June, that’s also the show’s best performance since the switch.

Still, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman” drew bigger overall audiences, with 4.12 million for Leno and 3.07 million for Letterman.

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In 18-to-49, Kimmel beat Letterman’s 793,000 viewers, increasing his advantage in the demo to 32%, though he came up shy of Leno’s 1.11 million.

Kimmel is up significantly from his year-ago performance for the first nine weeks of the season, when his show aired later.

His guests for the week of Nov. 18 included Barbara Walters, Josh Gad, Fall Out Boy, Elizabeth Banks, Larry King and Daughtry.

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