ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel made his triumphant return to his show on Tuesday night after a temporary suspension. The YouTube views hint to a real ratings spike.

Kimmel's controversial comments last week about some MAGA figures scoring 'political points' off the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk landed him in hot water from the right, including FCC chair Brendan Carr who threatened to pull ABC's broadcast license over the remarks. ABC quickly preempted the program last Thursday.

Of course, Carr's FCC jawboning drew widespread criticism from all sides of the political spectrum (including a wave of retaliatory Disney+ cancelations) for how allegations of how it blatantly infringed on Kimmel's rights to speak freely on his program without punishment from the government.

ABC eventually put Kimmel back on air despite two local affiliates, Nexstar and Sinclair, still preempting the program after expressing distaste in the late night host's remarks last week. Part of why ABC preempted the program in the first place was pushback from Nexstar and Sinclair.

In his return, Kimmel emotionally clarified his comments and expressed sorrow in Kirk's death but still bucked hard against Carr's threats and what it means for government censorship and free speech in America. Audiences clearly had interest in what Kimmel had to say because his Tuesday monologue is on its way to setting a new record for the show's YouTube page. At the time of publishing, the video saw more than 10 million views.

You can watch Kimmel's comments below.

We imagine that the show's broadcast ratings will reflect the immense YouTube pull, even if Nexstar and Sinclair markets are excluded after not airing the program.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Jimmy Kimmel's ratings in return might have a clue from YouTube

Reporting by Cory Woodroof, For The Win / For The Win

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