POST GETS ACTION: Our Linda Stasi wrote last April that ABC should move Jimmy Kimmel to an earlier slot. (AP)
ABC is detonating the late-night landscape, moving “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to butt heads with Jay Leno and David Letterman at 11:35 p.m.
“JKL,” which currently airs at midnight, will move to its new time slot on Tuesday, Jan. 8 opposite NBC’s “Tonight Show” and “The Late Show” on CBS.
“Nightline,” which currently airs at 11:35 p.m., will move to 12:35 a.m., where it will battle “Late Night With Jimmy Fallo
n” and “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.”
“Nightline” will also add a prime-time (9 p.m.) Friday-night version in March — which will premiere days after ABC’s Oscars telecast.
ABC officials say they’re moving Jimmy Kimmel’s show because of its “ratings and creative momentum this season” — even though “Nightline” pulls in about 2 million more viewers a night and often beats Leno and Letterman.
“The reality is [that] there’s a larger advertising demand for entertainment programming in that time slot — advertisers pay more money for these people,” says a network insider.
“There’s more potential growth to make this move than to keep the status quo. Leno and Letterman are locked in and the late-night landscape is pretty static right now.”
“JKL” averaged nearly 1.8 million viewers last season, a five-year high and the second most-watched season in its nine-year history. (The show’s 2006-07 season pulled in 2,000 more viewers.)
By comparison, “Nightline” averaged 3.9 million viewers last season — and more than 4 million viewers the season before (2010-2011).
“I’m very much surprised at the move. It’s kind of a head-scratcher,” says industry analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media. “ ‘Nightline’ is on an upswing and it’s winning the time period.
“It’s a well-respected show that’s branded ABC a bit . . . and shows like ‘Nightline’ are very rare in TV.”
ABC says it chose January to launch “JKL” in its new time slot to “take advantage of the built-in promotional platforms” provided by its New Year’s Eve telecast, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, and ESPN’s Bowl Championship series (which ends Jan. 7 with the National Championship Game).
ABC is also banking on Kimmel’s popularity to drive viewers to his show.
The comedian’s profile has risen of late since hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last spring and being tapped to host this year’s Emmy Awards telecast (Sept. 23 on ABC).
“This is the right time for Kimmel to make this move,” ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee said in a statement yesterday.
“He’s ready, and so is his audience. For the past 10 years we’ve built the foundation for this shift.”