WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Jimmy Kimmel's monologue

on his return to U.S. late-night television on Tuesday after

Walt Disney ( DIS ) lifted his suspension has been seen 16

million times on Google's YouTube and Meta's Instagram.

By noon on Wednesday, Kimmel's monologue had 11 million views on

YouTube and 5 million on Instagram. Broadcast ratings for

Tuesday's show were not yet available.

Kimmel returned to the air six days after his remarks about

the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk led Disney ( DIS ) to

suspend his show under pressure from President Donald Trump's

administration. Disney ( DIS ) initially said some of Kimmel's remarks

were "ill-timed" and "insensitive."

The company's decision to cut short Kimmel's exile marked a

high-profile act of corporate defiance in the face of Trump's

escalating crackdown on perceived enemies in the media through

litigation and regulatory threats.

Kimmel on Tuesday defended political satire against

"bullying" from Trump and officials in his administration.

Kimmel's voice choked with emotion, moments after he took the

stage to a standing ovation, and he said: "It was never my

intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don't

think there's anything funny about it."

Last week Kimmel had said Trump's supporters were eager to

characterize Kirk's assassin "as anything other than one of

them" and accused them of trying to "score political points"

from Kirk's killing.

Nexstar Media Group ( NXST ) and Sinclair both opted on

Tuesday to keep "Jimmy Kimmel Live" off their combined 70 owned

and operated ABC stations, which account for about 23% of U.S.

households. That meant the show was not seen over the air in

places like Seattle, Salt Lake City, Utah; Nashville and New

Orleans, among other markets. It also did not air in Washington,

D.C.

However, Disney ( DIS ) offers Kimmel's show for viewing on a number

of streaming apps, which are accessible all over the country.

In response to Kimmel's remarks last week, U.S. Federal

Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened an

investigation of ABC and its affiliates. He urged television

stations to drop Kimmel's show or face possible fines and

revocation of their broadcast licenses.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said on

September 17, which brought calls for his resignation from

Democrats and sharp criticism from Republicans including Senator

Ted Cruz.