Jimmy Kimmel Live to Do Battle with The Late Show and The Tonight Show

Jimmy Kimmel Live has received a major promotion.

The talk show, which originally aired at 12:05 a.m. and then was bumped up by five minutes in January 2011, will move in to direct competition with The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show With David Letterman on January 8:

ABC has announced that it will kick off at 11:35 p.m., while Nightline shifts to 12:35 a.m.

Jimmy Kimmel Live attracts a young audience and was the only late-night program to actually increase viewership this past season.

“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,” Disney/ABC TV Group president Anne Sweeney said. “There is the potential for far greater upside over the long term with this shift, given increased advertiser demand for competitive entertainment programming in the timeslot.”

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.