Out of a recent Deadline report by Glenn Garner we’ve learned that late night TV talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, has apparently admitted he wasn’t the original choice by ABC to host his late night gig. According to Jimmy Kimmel, that honor almost went to Jon Stewart.
Kimmel recently appeared on the “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” podcast with Ted Danson on the Team Coco YouTube channel. During the podcast, Kimmel shared the revealing story of how he came to land the late night spot he now occupies on the Disney owned ABC network. A spot which was apparently supposed to go to Jon Stewart.
At the time, however, Jimmy Kimmel was the bigger bargain for Disney COO (now the CEO), Bob Iger.
At about 44 minutes into the podcast, Kimmel said: “That was a mistake, by the way. They definitely should have hired Jon.”
Bob Iger To Jimmy Kimmel: “You Were Cheaper!”
On the podcast Kimmel recalls a conversation he had with Bob Iger about why he ended up being ABC’s pick for the late night show.
Bob Iger via CNBC Television YouTube
Kimmel relayed to Danson that he asked Iger, “What was it? Well…why? This is quite a leap that you guys made. I was, you know…I was on The Man Show; I was doing football picks on…on Fox NFL Sunday. Like, what was it? And he [Bob Iger] goes, ‘well, you were cheaper!'”
After he and Danson both laughed, Jimmy went on to state, “and everybody laughed, but I knew he wasn’t kidding.”
Jimmy Kimmel Says ABC Made A Mistake By Hiring Him
Jimmy Kimmel noted in the interview that Jon Stewart might have been the better option.
“That was a mistake by the way,” he said of Iger’s decision to go with him. “They definitely should have hired Jon. If I’m in that position, there’s no question I hire John 100 times out of a 100.”
Jimmy Kimmel on Colbert – YouTube, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Kimmel went over the back and forth from ABC between himself and Jon Stewart, who both had the same manager in James “Baby Doll” Dixon. It was James who had to break the bad news to Stewart, who was at the time (and is again) host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ratings Roller Coaster
In the early days of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC the show earned decent ratings, with average viewership in the 2 to 3 million range.
On the podcast Kimmel recalls, “Somehow we wound up getting good ratings. I still don’t know how that was, but they were good enough to keep us on the air.”
Since that time, however, his ratings have plummeted. In August of 2025 according to monthly Nielsen ratings figures “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” dropped to an average of just 1.1 million total viewers per episode . More importantly, the advertising demo of ages 18-49 cratered to just 129,000 viewers according to a report by Ariel Zilber of the New York Post.
The Charlie Kirk Fallout
In the wake of the tragic death of free speech and open dialog advocate Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, Jimmy Kimmel made some rather offensive false allegations on air that lead to his temporary suspension.
Advocates for Kimmel were heard and his show was back on ABC after just a few days. The initial show back saw a massive ratings spike to 6.5 million viewers, but sharply declined in the days following. After that initial bump, the viewership was back down to 1.7 to 2.8 million viewers per night, according to a follow up report in the New York Post.
Do you think ABC should have picked Jon Stewart over Jimmy Kimmel? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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kimmy jimmel’s husband thingie would’ve likely been a better host than him. dane cook would’ve been a better host than him.