Nexstar ABC Affiliates To Continue Preempting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Later today, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be returning following a week off after Disney decided to indefinitely preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following recent comments made by the host concerning the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

The chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, appeared on a podcast on Wednesday and warned ABC and its stations of repercussions following Kimmel’s comments, which resulted in ABC affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair refusing to show any more episodes unless there was a public apology and a donation made to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.

Following the pause, there was a huge public outcry over Disney’s decision, resulting in the show coming back to ABC on Tuesday night, with new episodes being available the next day on Hulu and Hulu On Disney+, along with clips being available on YouTube.

However, the show won’t be returning to every ABC channel, as both Nexstar and Sinclair will not be broadcasting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, with Sinclair putting out a statement regarding the show not returning to their ABC-owned channels:

Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.

Today, Nexstar also confirmed that the show will also not be returning to their networks:

We made a decision last week to preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s “ill-timed and insensitive” comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve. In the meantime, we note that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.

Between Nexstar’s 32 ABC affiliates channels, while Sinclair owns more than three dozen ABC affiliates channels, this means that together, almost one quarter of ABC channels in the US won’t be airing new episodes of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”. 

Roger’s Take: The main reason why Nexstar has been siding with the FCC is that they need their permission to finalise a deal to purchase more linear channels, as the current rules limit how many local channels a company can own, and they want those rules changed, so they can buy up some more local channels.    So it makes sense that Nexstar is holding off on airing back Jimmy Kimmel until some of the heat has calmed down.

What do you think of Nexstar not airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live”?  Let me know on social media!