LATE NIGHT TALKER TO SWAP TIME PERIOD WITH NIGHTLINE
Effective on January 8, 2013, ABC will move late night talker Jimmy Kimmel Live up one half-hour from 12:05 a.m. to 11:35 p.m. Current occupant Nightline, which is expected to have an hour in primetime beginning in March, will shift to 12:35 a.m. The move will enable Kimmel to better compete opposite Jay Leno on NBC and David Letterman on CBS.
“Given the passionate fan base Jimmy Kimmel Live has built over the past decade, and the show’s ratings and creative momentum this season, the time is right to make this move,” said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group in a statement.
ABC is hoping, of course, that greater advertising demand will benefit the entertainment driven Kimmel, which has been a late night staple on ABC since January 2003.