ABC Is Bringing Kimmel Back — But Nexstar, Sinclair Refuse to Broadcast His Show
Following ABC’s announcement that it will reinstate the late-night comedy program “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” two major companies comprising a large bloc of affiliate stations for the network said they will not air the program on their channels.
Those companies — Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group — are also preparing to request waivers from the Trump administration regarding mergers with other companies.
President Donald Trump is a frequent critic of Kimmel, and has expressed a desire to have the late-night host’s program taken off the air numerous times in recent years. Some commentators have suggested that Nexstar and Sinclair’s decision not to air Kimmel’s show may stem from a desire to remain on the administration’s good side in order to have their mergers approved — similar to what happened to CBS’s late night host Stephen Colbert, whose show was canceled amid parent company Paramount’s attempt to merge with Skydance, which also required administration approval.
Both Kimmel and Colbert have made frequent jokes on their shows at the president’s expense.
Kimmel’s suspension by ABC last week came after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, who was appointed by Trump, suggested that a joke Kimmel made about the president and his far right allies could lead to penalties against affiliate stations and ABC itself if they continued to air his show.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel joked during his September 15 program.
Kimmel also wisecracked about “how hard the president” was taking Kirk’s death, showing a clip of Trump responding to a question about how he was “holding up” by bragging about the construction of a new ballroom for the White House.
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel’s jokes that evening never centered around Kirk’s death or his family members. Indeed, the week prior, Kimmel said on Instagram that the killing was a “horrible and monstrous act,” and sent his condolences to Kirk’s family.
Nevertheless, Carr reacted to Kimmel’s jokes by suggesting punitive actions from the FCC against affiliate stations and ABC if they didn’t do something about Kimmel.
“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said during an interview on a podcast. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Following those comments, Nexstar and Sinclair — who, combined, represent around a quarter of all ABC stations across the country — both announced last week that they wouldn’t air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Soon after, ABC said it was indefinitely suspending Kimmel’s show.
Free speech advocates, congressional lawmakers, union leaders and others responded by demanding Disney, the parent company of ABC, reinstate the program. Many social media users threatened to end their subscriptions to Disney+’s online streaming services, and indeed, Disney’s stock prices dropped by nearly $5 billion after Kimmel was suspended.
During the weekend, Kimmel and Disney discussed his potential return to the show. On Monday, ABC said Kimmel would return to his late-night hosting duties, apparently without any censorship or restrictions on what he can say.
“Jimmy will say what Jimmy wants to say,” a source with knowledge of those discussions told Deadline.
Still, both Sinclair and Nexstar appear to be holding firm to their original plan to keep Kimmel’s show off of their stations.
“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,” a statement from Nexstar read.
Sinclair, meanwhile, had issued demands before it would agree to allow Kimmel on their stations, including that he publicly apologize to the Kirk family and pay a sizable donation to Kirk’s right-wing organization Turning Point USA.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) released a statement condemning the companies for their continued refusal to air Kimmel’s program.
“Nexstar, the largest TV broadcaster, needs Donald Trump’s approval for a $6 billion deal. If approved, Nexstar would control TV stations reaching 80% of households — violating the cap set by Congress to protect against monopolies,” Warren pointed out in a press release. “Sinclair, the nation’s second-largest broadcaster, is similarly waiting on Donald Trump’s approval for a broadcast deal and is planning even larger upcoming deals.”
“This censorship of Kimmel reeks of corruption,” Warren added.