Jimmy Kimmel joins Letterman, Leno at 11:35

Jimmy Kimmel joins Letterman, Leno at 11:35

Richard Cartwright/ABC/AP

This July 25, 2012 photo released by ABC shows Jimmy Kimmel hosting his late night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live," in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. ABC says it's moving "Jimmy Kimmel Live" into the thick of the late-night fight against Jay Leno and David Letterman. Starting in January, Kimmel's talk show will take over the 11:35 p.m. time slot long held by the news magazine "Nightline," ABC said Tuesday, Aug. 21.

Jimmy Kimmel has been waiting his whole life for this week.

On Tuesday, ABC’s late-night comic moves into direct competition with his longtime idol David Letterman, and frequent foe Jay Leno â€" two late-night icons that have occupied the time slot for decades.

Kimmel, however, seems unfazed by the challenge. “Everyone is better than Leno,” he told New York magazine recently.

He kept jabbing away at Leno on a recent call. “Never count Jay out,” Kimmel said. “He’s like Jason in ‘Friday the 13th.’ He seems to pop up just when you think he’s dead â€" he comes alive, and he’s got a hatchet.”

With Letterman, Kimmel is far more deferential: “It’s like if Nolan Ryan is pitching to you. You still have to try to hit the ball, no matter how many baseball cards you might have in your bedroom or posters of him on the wall.”

The move to 11:35 is one Kimmel has wanted since he got into the late-night comedy racket a decade ago and ABC brass believes the move will ultimately rake in big bucks â€" since they can charge more for advertising during an entertainment program than they can for news.

The time slot’s longtime occupant, “Nightline,” for years has been beating both Leno and Letterman in terms of ratings. But that never stopped ABC suits, who tried to poach Letterman more than a decade ago and then attempted to recruit Leno.

For Kimmel, taking on the “Tonight” show is a dream come true.

“I know moving from midnight to 11:35 might not sound like a big deal â€" it’s only 25 minutes â€" but it’s probably the most important 25 minutes of my life, since the first 14 times I had sex,” Kimmel told his audience last summer when ABC announced “Jimmy Kimmel Live” would swap spots with “Nightline.”

While Letterman welcomed him into the fray, paying a visit to his show as a guest, Leno has responded by moving “Tonight” up by one minute to 11:34 in a bid to draw viewers away 60 seconds before “Jimmy Kimmel Live” begins.

“It’s just what we’ve always wanted, we can all fight over our guests,” Kimmel told The News.

For the moment, it looks like Kimmel will have both of his rivals beat â€" at least in the short term.

A-listers ranging from Jennifer Aniston to Ryan Gosling, Sofia Vergara, Ellen DeGeneres, Rob Lowe, Jamie Foxx and Mark Wahlberg are all expected to drop by this week to visit Kimmel on his shiny, new set built for the occasion at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. that he has called home since 2003.