Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be returning to air on ABC affiliate stations owned by Sinclair and Nexstar. These two companies are the two biggest owners of ABC affiliate stations. In a statement released on Friday by Sinclair, the company said it is the company’s “responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.”
“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,” the statement said. “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.”
The ABC affiliates that are owned by Sinclair will air Tuesday night’s episode. This is the first episode after Jimmy Kimmel’s indefinite suspension. In it, he said during his monologue that “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.” He continued to say that his comments “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.” He also spoke of the importance of freedom of speech during his return to late-night on ABC on Tuesday night.
The return of Jimmy Kimmel to Nexstar stations comes as the company is hoping for $6.2 billion merger with rival Tegna. This merger would require FCC approval, as it would mean that Nexstar would control more stations than currently allowed.
The return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! brings the show back to all ABC stations once again. It isn’t believed that Kimmel or ABC acquiesced to any demands that were made by Nexstar or Sinclair for the return of his show to the affiliate stations.
The controversy with Jimmy Kimmel came after comments he made after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. This led to the FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatening ABC and ultimately saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” on a podcast. He continued saying that TV broadcasters “can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Shortly after these statements, Nexstar and Sinclair said it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! This was later followed by the “indefinite suspension” of the show by Disney/ABC. While Jimmy Kimmel will now be back on the air for all the ABC stations, it may not be the end of this controversy. Only time will tell. What can be told at this point is that Jimmy Kimmel has returned to the airwaves with ratings that are the highest that have been seen in years for the program.
