It looks as though Jimmy Kimmel’s brief stint as a basketball pregame host has given his late-night show some bounce.

ABC installed a series of half-hour Kimmel specials at 8 p.m. on game nights during the NBA finals. While his ratings were quite low for primetime, averaging a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating and 3 million total viewers, that was more than a 60 percent improvement over his late-night numbers.

And the extra exposure apparently drew more viewers to Kimmel’s 12:05 a.m. “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” During the week ended June 15, the most recent available, “Live” was the only show to rise week-to-week and year-to-year in total viewers.

The show averaged 1.59 million total viewers, up 14 percent from the previous year and 2 percent from the previous week. “Live” drew a 0.6 in adults 18-49, 20 percent better than a 0.5 the same week last year.

“Live” was the only show to show improvements over 2007, with the late-night competition all seeing total viewer declines and double-digit ones in 18-49s.

Surely some of that came from elevated viewing levels generally for ABC’s late-night because of the big ratings for the games themselves, which stretched well past 11 p.m.

So the real test will be to see if “Live” can hang onto any new viewers Kimmel may have wooed during the playoffs. The final NBA game aired on June 17, so viewing levels may yet rise a bit tied to the primetime specials.

Still, in a year where every late-night show is down compared to 2007, mostly due to the two months’ worth of reruns aired during the writers’ strike, any gains are notable. And it could bode well for future primetime stints for late-night comics.

NBC has indicated that it wants Jay Leno to stick around for primetime specials once Conan O’Brien takes over “The Tonight Show” next year. CBS’s Craig Ferguson, who won loads of praise for his White House Correspondents Dinner hosting gig earlier this year, seems a natural to eventually host one of the network’s many primetime game shows.

Meanwhile, Kimmel’s next primetime appearance may not be too far away. ABC will carry the Emmy Awards this year, a hosting gig networks traditionally give to their top talent, like Ryan Seacrest on Fox last year and O’Brien on NBC in 2006.

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Meanwhile, in late night ratings for the week ended June 15, NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” was first for the week, averaging 4.9 million total viewers and a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49. CBS’s “The Late Show with David Letterman” had 3.5 million viewers and a 1.0 rating in the demo, with ABC’s “Nightline” bringing in 3.0 million viewers and a 1.0 18-49 rating. In late-late night, NBC’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” had 2.1 million total viewers and a 0.8 in 18-49s, with CBS’s “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” at 1.7 million viewers and a 0.5, ABC’s “Live” at 1.6 million viewers and a 0.6, and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” at 1.1 million viewers and a 0.5 among 18-49s.

In other dayparts, in its first episode since the passing of moderator Tim Russert, NBC’s “Meet the Press” was first among the Sunday morning shows in total viewers with 6.41 million tuning in, and among viewers 25-54 with a 2.0 rating. ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” was second in viewers with 2.57 million, and tied for second among 25-54s with a 0.7, with CBS’s “Face the Nation” pulling 2.4 million viewers and a 0.7 among 25-54s. “Fox News Sunday” averaged 1.23 million viewers and a 0.5 rating among 25-54s.
 
In morning shows, NBC’s “Today” was first with 5.2 million total viewers and a 4.0 household rating and 15 share, followed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” with 4.0 million viewers and a 3.2/12. CBS’s “Early Show” was third with 2.5 million total viewers and a 2.0/7.
 
CBS had the largest full daytime audience during the week, averaging 3.51 million viewers, but was third among women 18-49 with a 1.1 rating. ABC had the second-largest audience, averaging 2.84 million viewers, and was tied for first among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating. NBC had a full daytime audience of 2.55 million and was tied for first among women 18-49 with a 1.3 rating.
 
In evening network news for the week ended June 22, NBC’s “Nightly News with Brian Williams” was first among total viewers, averaging 7.99 million, and among 25-54s with a 2.1 average rating. ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” was second in viewers, averaging 7.04 million, and among 25-54s with a 1.8 rating (Tuesday of last week was not included due to low coverage from the NBA finals). CBS’s “Evening News with Katie Couric” was third for the week with 5.71 million total viewers and a 1.4 25-54 rating.