TV Guide Article & Kimmel Ratings
“My goal is to help Jimmy win,” says Jordan, who’s been with the show for two years. “By winning, I mean high ratings. You live and die by who is on your couch on a nightly basis.”
Or who’s in your proverbial bed. Jordan was the force behind Kimmel’s hilarious “I’m F---ing Ben Affleck” video, which boasts a who’s who of A-listers. “I remember getting the emails from Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford’s people that they would do it,” she says. “Those are the e-mails you archive.”
Another bonus: the video directly resulted in landing Kimmel more stars, like Keanu Reeves and upcoming guests Charlize Theron. You also earn respect from your boss. “Joanna is great at her job because she loves it,” Kimmel says. “I wish I’d had her in high school when I was looking for a date to the prom.”
Jordan, who cut her teeth as a booker for Late Night With David Letterman, is up at 6am, reading the trades and watching the morning news shows. At 10am she gathers her staff for a meeting – and lots of coffee. Then she hits the phones. “I can spend 12 hours a day on the phone,” she says. “Some days I forget to eat.”
At 7:30pm, when she’s not having dinner with her three kids or visiting the Kimmel set for a telecast, Jordan and her staff hit the party circuit. “We move like an army,” she says. “I find it’s easier to get a ‘yes’ out of people when they’re surrounded by beautiful women.”
The tactics definitely work, executive producer Jill Leiderman says. “When I look at the caliber of guests since Joanna started, there is no comparison.”
Charlize Theron – “Getting her to say, ‘I’d love to do your show’ is thrilling. And Jimmy is happy to have a beautiful woman on.” Theron stops by June 27.
Zac Efron – “We were thrilled to have him on promoting ‘Hairspray,’” Jordan says. “The amount of women who came to the show to see him was unbelievable.”
ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Draws its Best Numbers in Total
Viewers and Adults 18-49 in Nearly Seven Month
Draws its Largest Audience and Young Adult Rating in Late-Night in 6 Months
Weekly National Ratings:
During the week of May 19, 2008, which contained the final nights of the 2007-08 TV season, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” drew its largest audience (1.89 million) and highest Adults 18-49 rating (0.7/3) in nearly seven months – since w/o 11/5/07 and w/o 10/29/07, respectively.
On Tuesday (5/20/08), featuring “Dancing with the Stars” champions Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Balls, as well as Matthew Fox and musical guests the Pussycat Dolls, “JKL” drew its best numbers in Total Viewers (2.40 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.9/4) for any “Kimmel” late-night telecast since November – since 11/27/07. In fact, the Tuesday airing drew “JKL’s” second-largest audience in late-night of the 2007-08 TV season.For the week, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” beat CBS’ “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” in Total Viewers (1.89 million vs. 1.64 million) and across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (0.5/3 vs. 0.4/2), Adults 18-49 (0.7/3 vs. 0.5/3) and Adults 25-54 (0.8/4 vs. 0.7/4). In addition, “JKL” tied NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” in Adults 25-54 (0.8/4).
Complete 2007-08 TV Season (9/24/07-5/21/08)
During the 2007-08 television broadcast season, despite being impacted by the writers’ strike, ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” retained nearly all (96%) of the previous TV season’s audience (1.73 million vs. 1.80 million). In fact “Jimmy Kimmel” exhibited the greatest retention of its overall audience from the previous TV season compared to its late-night network competitors, “Leno” (-17%), “Letterman” (-11%), “Conan” (-22%), “Ferguson” (-12%) and “Carson Daly” (-26%). Furthermore, in retaining 96% of the show’s record-setting 2006-07 Total Viewer audience during the TV season, “JKL” registered its second-largest audience in the last 5 TV seasons.
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