Jimmy Kimmel is coming back nationwide on ABC stations across the U.S.
TV station group Nexstar said it will resume airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its 32 ABC affiliates starting Friday night after it had preempted the show over the late-night host’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer. Earlier Friday, Sinclair said it was bringing Kimmel back to its 38 ABC stations, also reversing its previous position.
The decisions by the two station groups end a short-lived protest by the companies that started last week following Kimmel’s remarks on Monday, Sept. 15. ABC suspended the show Sept. 17 before bringing it back this past Tuesday, where it saw record ratings despite the Sinclair-Nexstar blackout.
Disney made no editorial or content concessions to Sinclair or Nexstar in resolving the standoffs, according to a person familiar with the matter. Disney declined to make execs available for comment.
The return of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in all U.S. markets is a victory for Disney and ABC, which had been slammed as having caved in to pressure from the Trump administration in sidelining Kimmel. Disney was targeted with protests and consumer threats to boycott its services (i.e., by canceling Disney+) as well as criticism from Hollywood guilds and others for the perception it wasn’t standing up for First Amendment rights.
“We have had discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company and appreciate their constructive approach to addressing our concerns,” Nexstar said in a statement. “As a local broadcaster, Nexstar remains committed to protecting the First Amendment while producing and airing local and national news that is fact-based and unbiased and, above all, broadcasting content that is in the best interest of the communities we serve. We stand apart from cable television, monolithic streaming services, and national networks in our commitment — and obligation — to be stewards of the public airwaves and to protect and reflect the specific sensibilities of our communities.”
Nexstar added: “To be clear, our commitment to those principles has guided our decisions throughout this process, independent of any external influence from government agencies or individuals.”
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The Kimmel controversy kicked into high gear after FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened to pursue “news distortion” complaints against ABC stations unless Kimmel was fired. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said Sept. 17 on a conservative podcast. TV broadcasters, he said, “can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Nexstar’s decision to black out Kimmel was widely seen as an attempt to get in Carr’s good graces, as it has some immediate business before the agency. In August, Nexstar announced an agreement to acquire Tegna for $6.2 billion, a deal that requires FCC approval; the company denied Carr’s threats influenced its decision to yank Kimmel on the air. Sinclair, too, claimed “Our decision to preempt [‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’] was independent of any government interaction or influence.”
In announcing it was bringing Kimmel back earlier this week, Disney said the decision to suspend the show was “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.” The statement continued, “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” Sept. 23.
In a memo to staff Friday afternoon, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and president/COO Mike Biard thanked employees for their patience and said some had faced “hostile and even threatening reactions.”
“We recognize that our decision created difficult, and at times distressing, circumstances for many of you — particularly at ABC affiliates. Some of you faced hostile and even threatening reactions. We regret that, but we also know standing by principle requires fortitude and a willingness to take the harder path,” the execs wrote. “As FCC licensees, we take seriously our duty to program in the public interest, even when not everyone agrees.”
Sook and Biard’s memo continued, “We also want to address questions raised about the First Amendment. No one has an unlimited right to say whatever they want on a talk show. Every network and station has made tough calls when on-air conduct crosses a line. That isn’t a violation of the First Amendment — it’s an exercise of editorial responsibility and stewardship of the public airwaves. As we said in our press release, Nexstar remains committed to protecting the First Amendment, delivering fact-based and unbiased news, and broadcasting content that best serves our communities. These principles guided us throughout this process and will continue to do so.”
Irving, Texas-based Nexstar has 32 ABC-affiliated stations (23 are owned by the company and nine are partner stations it provide services to under joint operating agreements).
Those include KTVX (Salt Lake City), WGNO (New Orleans), WTEN (Albany, N.Y.), WSYR (Syracuse, N.Y.), WKRN (Nashville, Tenn.), WATE (Knoxville, Tenn.), WOTV (Battle Creek, Mich.), WHTM (Harrisburg, Pa.), WRIC (Richmond, Va.), WJGF (Augusta, Ga.), KTKA (Topeka, Kan.) and WTNH (Hartford-New Haven, Conn.).
In a Sept. 17 statement, Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, had said: “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located. Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
— Brian Steinberg contributed to this article.
From Variety US