ABC goes for the late-night ad gold

Disney ABC TV boss Anne Sweeney is making a grab for a bigger slice of the $400 million latenight ad pie.

Thanks to higher ratings and a bounce in ad bucks, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is moving up to 11:35 p.m. and going head to head with Jay Leno and David Letterman.

Advertisers boosted their spending on Kimmel’s show by 20 percent last year to $98million, according to Kantar Media. Kimmel’s viewership rose by 3 percent last season, drawing an average of 1.4 million total viewers.

Sweeney’s latenight gambit comes just days after NBCUniversal parent Comcast swung the axe on NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” Leno, who took a pay cut to minimize staff layoffs, is the latenight leader in ad do-llars, pulling in $159 million, a slight increase over the previous year.

Meanwhile, CBS’s “Late Show With David Letterman” saw a slight drop in ad dollars to $155 million from $164 million, Kantar figures indicate.

The 44yearold Kimmel appears better positioned to woo advertisers with the promise of younger viewers. Last year, the median age of viewers was 56.5 years and 55.7 years for Leno and Letterman, respectively. The average age for Kimmel was 51.9 years— closer to the 18to49yearolds advertisers covet.

Sweeney’s latest gambit suggests she sees another opening in rivals’ schedules. ABC’s “Good Morning America” has made major inroads and now beats NBC’s onceinvincible $500 million “Today” cash cow in the ratings.

Todd Gordon, executive vice president at MagnaGlobal, said Kimmel has both ratings momentum and buzz. “If ratings are higher, money will find them, just like ‘GMA,’” he said. “They’ve been aggressive at selling both.”

In January, Kimmel will switch places with “Nightline,” which will move to a news lot at 12:35 a.m. While “Nightline” ratings often top the comedy competition, the news show is not a big draw for advertisers, who apparently prefer to send consumers off to sleep with a smile on their faces.

“Nightline” booked around $40 million in ad spending on 3.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen figures provided by Horizon Media.