Sinclair is putting Jimmy Kimmel back on the air on its 38 ABC TV stations, after preempting his late-night TV show in protest over Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer.
Sinclair said in a statement that it will end its preemption of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the show will return Friday evening on Sinclair’s ABC affiliates. The Sept. 26 airing of the show is a rerun of Tuesday’s show, featuring Kimmel’s return after ABC temporarily suspended him.
“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,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair’s ABC stations include WJLA (Washington, D.C.), KOMO (Seattle), KDNL (St. Louis), KATV (Little Rock, Ark.), KTUL (Tulsa, Okla.), WTVC (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and WCIV (Charleston, S.C.).
As of this writing, Nexstar, another large station group that pulled Kimmel off its 32 ABC affiliates over his comments, has not said when it might resume airing the show. In a statement Wednesday (Sept. 24), Nexstar said it is “continuing to evaluate the status of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on our ABC-affiliated local television stations, and the show will be preempted while we do so. We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve.”
In Sinclair’s statement Friday, it said, “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.”
The station group’s statement continued: “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,” the statement concluded.
The reversal comes after Baltimore-based Sinclair announced Sept. 17 that it would preempt Kimmel’s show indefinitely, following remarks the host made on his show two days prior about “the MAGA gang” trying to score political points over the suspect charged with the murder of conservative activist Kirk. That came on the heels of Nexstar saying it was pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its ABC affiliates.
Both of the two station groups’ announcements followed FCC chairman Brendan Carr’s threat to pursue “news distortion” complaints against ABC stations unless Kimmel were fired — and Sinclair and Nexstar’s decisions were seen as an attempt to curry favor with Carr and the Trump administration. As Sinclair said in its statement Friday, its decision to black out Kimmel was “independent of any government interaction or influence.” Nexstar also has denied Carr’s comments affected its decision to pre-empt Kimmel.
Also on Sept. 17, ABC said “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be suspended “indefinitely.” Disney brought Kimmel back on Tuesday, Sept. 23, with the show delivering boffo TV ratings to rank as its highest-rated episode ever even with the Sinclair and Nexstar boycotts.
In its Sept. 17 statement, Sinclair said that before it would consider bringing Kimmel back on the air, the host must apologize to Kirk’s family and send “a meaningful personal donation” to them as well as Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk founded. Ultimately those demands seemed like nonstarters for the Kimmel and Disney camps.
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