By Brian Stelter, CNN

(CNN) — Newfound enthusiasm about Jimmy Kimmel’s show is not evaporating after just one monologue.

Kimmel’s Wednesday night follow-up to his Tuesday night comeback show quickly racked up millions of views on YouTube on Thursday morning, indicating that interest in Kimmel’s commentary remains way above normal.

By 10 a.m. ET this morning, the Wednesday night monologue had topped 3.5 million views, enough to rank as one of his most-watched videos of the year on YouTube.

Meanwhile, his emotional Tuesday night monologue was closing in on 20 million views on YouTube. That one already ranks as his most-watched monologue of all time on the platform.

The surge in online viewership is partly because Kimmel’s show has been blacked out by Nexstar and Sinclair. The two local TV station operators control ABC-affiliated stations in markets that represent about 23% of American TV households.

Nexstar said Wednesday that it is having “productive discussions” with Disney, while Sinclair referred CNN back to its earlier statement on the matter.

On traditional television, Kimmel’s return episode scored at least 6.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen measurements. That figure will increase once other forms of viewing are factored in.

Kimmel alluded to his ratings performance on Wednesday night, and he mocked President Trump’s recent Truth Social post that bashed him.

“This was his big closer: ‘Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings,’” Kimmel said. “And he does know bad ratings: He has some of the worst ratings any president has ever had. On behalf of all of us, welcome to the crappy ratings club, Mr. President.”

The-CNN-Wire
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