Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC Return Suffers Another Blow: Second Major Affiliate Network Pulls the Plug
jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, is returning to ABC on Tuesday after a six-day break, but it will not be aired by affiliates owned by Nexstar and sinclair Broadcast Group. Both media companies have chosen to preempt the show due to Kimmel’s controversial and incendiary comments about conservatives and the assassin of Charlie Kirk. Nexstar stated that Kimmel’s remarks were “ill-timed and insensitive” and they want a commitment to respectful dialog before reconsidering their decision.Sinclair also announced it would replace the show with local news programming and is in discussions with ABC about the show’s future.Kimmel was suspended after inaccurately portraying the assassin’s political motivations. Despite the blackouts on many local stations, the show will still be available nationwide on Disney-owned streaming platforms. Neither Kimmel nor ABC have publicly commented on the affiliate blackouts by Nexstar and Sinclair.
Far-left ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel will return to his network’s airwaves Tuesday night, but his program will not be shown by affiliates owned by Nextsar.
The company announced Tuesday that it would join Sinclair Broadcast Group in preempting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” when it returns after a six-day hiatus.
In a statement to Variety, Nexstar said the host’s incendiary comments about conservatives and the assassin of Charlie Kirk would keep him sidelined in its ABC markets.
“We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy KimmelLive!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse,” Nextsar said.
The company added, “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.”
Nexstar concluded, “In the meantime, we note that ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”
🚨 BREAKING: Nexstar, the largest ABC affiliate group, is REFUSING to air Jimmy Kimmel on their networks
That means over SIXTY ABC stations will NOT be airing Kimmel, as Sinclair has declined to bring him back as well.
“We made a decision last week to preempt “Jimmy Kimmel… pic.twitter.com/PzzJlDwcnK
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 23, 2025
The news comes less than a day after Sinclair announced it would not carry Kimmel’s return to late-night.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” Sinclair said in a statement.
The statement concluded, “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return. pic.twitter.com/beGC6VID2x
— Sinclair, Inc. (@WeAreSinclair) September 22, 2025
Kimmel was sidelined after he lied about Kirk’s suspected assassin during a monologue last Monday.
While ignoring statements provided by law enforcement and public officials about Tyler Robinson being radicalized by far-left ideology, Kimmel portrayed the 22-year-old as “MAGA.”
Kimmel told his dwindling audience, “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.”
ABC News announced two days later that Kimmel would be on a hiatus.
Monday, Disney announced Kimmel’s return.
“We made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” Disney said.
The company added, “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Kimmel’s show will air Tuesday night, but will not be available in the 28 ABC markets operated by Nextsar or the 38 markets operated by Sinclair.
Neither Kimmel nor ABC had commented on the blackouts by the two conglomerates as of early Tuesday afternoon.
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