It was a very good week for Jimmy Kimmel. Last Thursday Jimmy Kimmel Live! had its first in-season victory over The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. Even though he doesn’t come on until midnight, the ABC host beat his NBC late night rival by 4% in Adults 18-49 on May 10. Kimmel also beat out David Letterman over on CBS. Jimmy Kimmel Live! topped The Late Show With David Letterman on May 7 (+5%), May 9 (+60%), and May 11 (+20%). The May 11 show, a Friday, was actually a Kimmel repeat while Letterman’s was a new show.

In his time slot second half 12:30 AM rivals Kimmel scored as well. Kimmel outperformed The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson in Adults 18-49 by 48% last week. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon followed Jimmy Kimmel Live! by 15% in Adults 18-49 and by 22% in total viewers.

The ABC Upfront host and this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner headliner saw his total viewership up 2% during the May 7 week. Kimmel’s draw among Adults 18-49 was also up 2% last week. Those numbers brought Kimmel his best performance in 6 months and continued his show’s overall audience increase (1%) over the same week last year for the sixth straight week. Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s growth, the only one among the late night talk shows, could turn this season into his most watched since 2006-2007

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/jimmy-kimmel-bests-jay-leno-david-letterman/#more-274079

I'm a Letterman loyalist when it comes to the 11:35 pm shows, but I've been a fan of Jimmy Kimmel Live since the beginning. It's a breath of fresh air, and a nice break from the formulaic formats of most of the other late-night shows. It's nice to hear the show is doing so well in the ratings.

Same here Brad. I love Letterman and I watch Kimmel too. It actually works out well because I watch Letterman Monologue and the top 10 which usually leads right into Kimmel.

Is it because it was some of connection to Dancing with the Stars or repeats for the Late show and Tonight Show?

No, Solomon. Kimmel and DWTS have no connection other than every Tuesday the eliminated contestant comes on, but that has been going on for YEARS--so that's not the reason for the uptick. In fact a REPEAT of Kimmel beat a NEW Letterman last Friday. Leno has been going down for years now. Nightline consistently beats it and now Kimmel will too. Even Letterman is beating Leno a lot now.

[QUOTE=Pavan]No, Solomon. Kimmel and DWTS have no connection other than every Tuesday the eliminated contestant comes on, but that has been going on for YEARS--so that's not the reason for the uptick. In fact a REPEAT of Kimmel beat a NEW Letterman last Friday. Leno has been going down for years now. Nightline consistently beats it and now Kimmel will too. Even Letterman is beating Leno a lot now.[/QUOT


I have to look into the real reason