Jimmy Kimmel isn’t going anywhere — at least, not until after 2027.
The comedian and Disney have struck a new deal that will keep him as the host of ABC‘s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for another year, according to three people familiar with the matter. Kimmel’s current deal with Disney was believed to expire in 2026.
Bloomberg previously reported early details of the pact, which comes after Disney pulled Kimmel’s show off the schedule for a few days in September after two large owners of affiliate TV stations, Nexstar and Sinclair, complained about a monologue in which the comedian discussed Charlie Kirk, the young Republican figure who was assassinated.
Kimmel confirmed the deal renewal in an Instagram post Monday afternoon, writing, “I am pleased to announce another no-talent year!”
The new deal may offer some short-term comfort to late-night fans, who have grown worried about the health of late-night programs in recent months. Paramount Skydance’s CBS is getting out of the business of running typical late-night programs entirely, and will end Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” in May of next year. All of the shows have seen their linear audiences decline as more typical TV viewers migrate to streaming venues. Indeed, many producers of late-night programs keep their eyes on YouTube subscriber numbers as much as they do traditional TV ratings.
Disney and Kimmel actually signed the one-year extension over the summer, according to one of the people familiar with the matter — before the publicity crisis erupted. Typical talent deals usually last about three years or so, but Kimmel has in recent years been considering stepping back from his wee-hours role. He has hosted “Jimmy Kimmel Live” since January of 2003, making him one of the longest-tenured late-night figures currently on the screen.
It’s no secret among staffers and executives associated with late night that the business of the format has been in decline. Young people are the very consumers jumping first to new streaming behaviors that are less tied to watching programs at a specific time and date. Hosts like Jimmy Fallon, Kimmel and Colbert continue to generate headlines and digital memes and still build sizable live audiences that the networks– and their distributors and advertisers — covet. But less so, and the ranks of the hosts have narrowed in recent years. So too have episodes of the shows. None of the medium’s regular hosts holds forth on Fridays any longer, with Fallon’s “Tonight” the last to give up the fifth night of the week.
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Kimmel has over two decades transformed the show. At first, it was a place for his humor, some of which could be a little rough. Audience members who came to the program’s tapings in its earliest days could imbibe alcoholic drinks. Over time, Kimmel became known for clever taped shorts that included everything from compilations of bad practices on local news broadcasts to a showstopper of a bit that had comedian Sarah Silverman, then Kimmel’s significant other, joking about a relationship with actor Matt Damon.
In recent years, Kimmel has become more interested in current headlines and politics. He sometimes discusses issues during his monologues and occasionally jousts with detractors on social media. But he is also seen as an Everyman among late-night hosts. He worked radio programs early in his career, and then got more visibility in programs on Comedy Central. His contemporaries — Fallon and Colbert — gained wider profiles on shows like “Saturday Night Live, “Strangers With Candy” or “The Dana Carvey Show.”
From Variety US