Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night was seismic for television, but YouTube is claiming a chunk of the glory.

During a presentation today at MIA Market in Rome, YouTube’s Head of Business Strategy and Operations, EMEA, Luca Forlin, said the linear TV viewing uptick generated by the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to ABC was dwarfed by numbers generated on the Google-owned platform.

“It was a huge moment, and he had a huge audience spike, but even that audience spike on linear paled in comparison to what YouTube gained in terms of audience,” he added.

Kimmel returned to the airwaves on Tuesday, September 23 after Disney his ABC show was pulled over comments he made on the killing of right-wing campaigner Charlie Kirk. ABC affiliate Nexstar and Sinclair both boycotted the show, but ult

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