A month later, Jimmy Kimmel is holding his own

This post has been updated. See below for details.

A month later, Jimmy Kimmel is unpacked in his new time slot digs — and giving his neighbors on the late-night block something to talk about.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live’s� move to 11:35 p.m. has paid off big for ABC and added bounce to the battle for late night, long a predictable tug-of-war between Jay Leno and David Letterman.

In its most recent week (Jan. 28-Feb. 1), the late-night talker was second to “The Tonight Show� in adults 18-49 (1.081 million verses 911,000 for “Kimmel�) and third in total viewers with 2.5 million, behind Leno (3.5 million viewers) and Letterman (3.1 million viewers).

VIDEO: Jimmy Kimmel vs. Matt Damon: A video history

Kimmel’s inroads over Letterman have been felt since the beginning of the move. Its Jan. 8 bow in the time slot brought in 3.1 million viewers (a 59% jump over its usual audience at midnight) over Letterman’s 2.9 million viewers. And in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demo, Kimmel outpaced Letterman by 30%, a pattern that hasn’t changed much. Over the span of the “Kimmel’s� first four weeks in the new slot, it has on average out-delivered Letterman by 154,000 in adults 18-49. In total weekly viewers, the race between the two is tighter.

A highly publicized visit from Matt Damon on Jan. 24 also brought a boost for “Kimmel,� pushing him to No.1 among all-late night programs in households and adults 18-49.

Could late-night’s regular viewers be turning in the old for the new? It’s too soon to tell. But versus a year ago in the same month, Letterman has taken the biggest hit in the 18-49 demo with the addition of Kimmel — down 21%. In total viewers, “Late Show� was down 7%. Leno’s drop-off was less significant, down 6% in the 18-49 demo and 4% in total viewers.

But Kimmel doesn’t seem to want to pay too much attention to it all. Last month during a stop on the set of his show during the Television Critics Assn., the 45-year-old host likened the extra attention being paid to the Late Night wars to a sporting event — saying people like the “drama.� He also told reporters he expects to settle into third place eventually, behind hero David Letterman.

“Johnny Carson retired with the crown,� he said. “There’s no king of late night.�

ALSO:

Nick Cannon: ‘I’m a big kid at heart’

Robin Roberts returning to ‘GMA’ at end of the month

‘American Idol’ recap: Hollywood Week -- for boys only

[For the record: 11:38 a.m. Feb. 8, 2013: An earlier version of this post stated “Kimmel� was second to Leno for the most recent week (Jan. 28- Feb. 1) in total viewers. It now relflects he came in at No. 3, behind Letterman’s “Late Show.�]