Posted on 09/26/2025 11:30:43 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Sinclair has agreed to stop preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live!, allowing the show to resume airing on its ABC affiliates.
Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show was indefinitely suspended by ABC after comments the comedian made about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged with the murder of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
“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,” said Kimmel on the Sept. 15 episode.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans lauded the suspension while Kimmel’s supporters denounced it as censorship, since it came in the aftermath of vociferous criticism from the president and comments from his Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr that his agency “can do this the easy way or the hard way” if companies don’t “find ways to change conduct and take action.”
On Monday, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be returning on Tuesday, after “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy” about comments that “were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” but Nexstar and Sinclair announced they would not be airing Kimmel’s show on the dozens of local ABC affiliates that they own.
Kimmel’s first show back after his suspension drew 6.3 million viewers — even with 23% of American households not being able to watch on ABC because of the preemption by Nexstar and Sinclair — plus over 25 million views online.
The news that Sinclair was ending its preemption was reported by CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, who noted that the company was “admitting it didn’t get what it wanted from Disney.”
This just in: "Sinclair today announced that it will end its preemption of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the show will return this evening on Sinclair’s ABC affiliates."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 26, 2025
Here's the full statement from Sinclair, admitting it didn't get what it wanted from Disney >>
"Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience. We take seriously our responsibility as local…
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 26, 2025
The statement read in full:
Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience. We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.
Over the last week, we have received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives. We have also witnessed troubling acts of violence, including the despicable incident of a shooting at an ABC affiliate station in Sacramento. These events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important.
In our ongoing and constructive discussions with ABC, Sinclair proposed measures to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue, including a network-wide independent ombudsman. These proposals were suggested as collaborative efforts between the ABC affiliates and the ABC network. While ABC and Disney have not yet adopted these measures, and Sinclair respects their right to make those decisions under our network affiliate agreements, we believe such measures could strengthen trust and accountability.
Our decision to preempt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence. Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the content on their local stations. While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.
As a company rooted in local stations, Sinclair remains committed to serving our communities with programming that reflects their priorities, earns their trust, and promotes constructive dialogue. We look forward to continuing to work with ABC to deliver content that serves a broad spectrum of our communities.
They caved to something...
He’s still not funny or entertaining and I’m still not watching.
These companies are deeply interwoven into each other’s business. It would be a rare thing if one could harm the other and not expect blowback in some other area of their interconnectedness.
AS I see it, the real problem is the product, Kimmel’s show, is lousy. But it probably reflects the broader systemic problems of the company that hosts it. It’s like alcoholics only hire other alcoholics. Liberals only hire liberals.
Boycott local advertisers.
But it would take a lot of organization to do that.
I’m not sure the end would be worth the effort.
What Nexstar does will be interesting.
I think they can kiss their merger goodbye if they cave.
Personally, I’m against the NFL receiving 10 per cent of ESPN in the proposed sale of the NFL Network.
I CANNOT understand how a professional league can have a stake in ESPN which owns a bookie joint named ESPN Bet.
I hope that proposed sale gets knocked down by whatever regulatory agencies are involved.
Roseanne Barr Bashes Disney’s ‘Double Standard’ as Kimmel Returns to TV: ‘I Got My Whole Life Ruined’
Is there any easy way to get a list of aadvertisers on his show?
I guess we’ll have to continue not watching his show.
Too bad about all that wasted advertising money
Just don’t watch it
Their ads have zero affect on you
We hit some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk.
Sinclair proves it’s worth.
Once your in the democrat club nobody makes it out alive????.
I imagine that ABC told them that if they didn’t stop preempting Kimmel that they would find new stations in their markets to affiliate with. The pressure goes both ways.
I don’t see any point in stopping Kimmel from doing his show.
May as well let the brainwashing continue.. his audience is already hopelessly brainwashed anyway.
Whenever I talk to people with TDS, they are going down a list of cherry-picked outrageous things that Trump or Kirk or Vance supposedly said - it they are second hand quotes they heard on late night TV or fake news - always deliberately taken out of context to create a deceptive narrative.
The resulting implication is almost always the exact opposite of Trump’s actual message.
I’ll offer to find them a video clip of the whole quote - with Trump actually saying it - including the context - but people with TDS are never willing to listen. Instead, they jump to the next spoon-fed outrageous thing that Trump or Kirk supposedly said.
These people are truly hopeless. They truly believe WE are the brainwashed ones!
Just move his to very late night….like 3AM.
Well their ratings will go down...
One reason I like watching only ad supported media - you don’t watch, they get no money. With subscription services, they get funded no matter if you watch or not - which ultimately lowers the quality of the programming. This includes services which carry these networks, as they get carriage fees for your subscription even if you never watch the network. A substantial amount of their revenue is from this, which lowers the incentive to actually produce quality programming dependent on people actually watching.
Well, I still will not be watching.
Sinclair ought to look into that.
Some stations are starting to drop the networks and produce their own programming.
Sinclair is a large enough group they could probably use the money they would save from network affiliation payments to produce their own shows including comedies, sitcoms, etc.
I don’t watch it, never have, but taking *ANY* show off the air for reasons related to the feelings or desires of any politician or voting block is a bad, bad thing.
*ALL* public officials should be subject to scathing public comments and ridicule, the ones I like and the ones I detest alike.
Perfect. Now the FCC can revoke the ABC license.
Broadcast networks have no FCC licenses as such. Their affiliates do.
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