Millions of Americans are set to miss Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night TV on Tuesday, as two major owners of local ABC stations said that they still plan not to air the show.
Nexstar announced today that it is joining Sinclair in continuing their previous plans to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely. Together, the two companies own more than 23 percent of local TV stations that are affiliated with ABC’s national programming. Viewers relying on those stations will instead have to settle for local news.
Nexstar’s announcement comes a day after Disney, which owns ABC, said the late-night talk show would return on Tuesday. The show had been suspended last week following comments Kimmel made after the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Disney’s decision to temporarily pull the show, under pressure from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, set off a firestorm of its own and fueled a heated national debate over free speech.
Politicians, free-speech advocates, and Hollywood stars came to Kimmel’s defense in the days that followed. And a call to boycott Disney, including canceling Disney+ subscriptions, also went viral online, hitting Disney stock, prompting the House of Mouse on Monday to announce the show’s return.
However, that same day, Sinclair posted on X that it would be preempting the show while discussions with ABC continued.
Nexstar, for its part, said in a press release on Tuesday that it stood by its decision to pull the show, citing Kimmel’s “ill-timed and insensitive” comments.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo.
How to know if your local ABC station will air Jimmy Kimmy Live!
If your local ABC station is owned by Nexstar or Sinclair, you’ll miss out on Kimmel’s return.
Sinclair operates 38 ABC stations, including those in Washington, D.C., Seattle, and St. Louis. You can see Wikipedia’s full list here.
Nexstar runs 28 ABC stations, including in Salt Lake City and Nashville. The Wikipedia list of Nexstar stations is here.
A timeline of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! controversy
The controversy began after Kirk’s shooting on Wednesday, Sept. 10. In the days that followed, when little was known about the shooter, many conservative politicians and pundits suggested he was motivated by left-wing ideology.
On the night of Monday, Sept. 15, Kimmel pushed back on those claims.
“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 said.
Two days later, on Sept. 17, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told conservative commentator Benny Johnson: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. 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.”
The FCC regulates broadcast television and has the power to suspend a station’s license.
Hours after Carr’s remarks, Nexstar—which is in the process of trying to acquire TEGNA, another owner of TV stations—and Sinclair announced they would preempt the show. ABC soon afterward took action and announced it was suspending the program.
At the time, Sinclair said the suspension was not enough and called for further action from both ABC and the FCC.
