Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel had his biggest audience in a decade when he returned to US TV screens a week after pressure from Donald Trump's government saw him forced off the air, Disney said Wednesday.

The comedian was benched by the entertainment giant's ABC network after officials threatened to yank broadcast licenses, purportedly over comments Kimmel made in the wake of the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

But after a public outcry and complaints from usually reliable Trump allies that this was a government attempt to chill free speech, the suspension was reversed and Kimmel was back on the air on Tuesday, delivering a biting monologue attacking censorship.

"A government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn't like is anti-American," Kimmel told viewers

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