Jimmy Kimmel will speak at the Disney Advertising Prepaid Showcase Event held on Tuesday, May 13th, 2025 in North Javits, New York City.
David Russell | Disney General Entertainment Content | Getty Images
Nexstar Media Groupone of the broadcast television station’s biggest owners said they would not air the return of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on tuesday.
The company will participate Sinclair, It said Monday it would not air the late-night show and would instead display other programming.
ABC Parents Disney It was announced that it will be regaining “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Monday. After a comment by host Kimmel, who linked the murderer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to President Donald Trump’s Magazine movement, last week he paused the show indefinitely.
Nexstar was one of the first to respond to Kimmel’s comments.
“Last week I decided to take the lead on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ” The ABC is known as Kimmel’s “illegal and insensitive” comments and is supported at a critical time in public discourse.
“In the meantime, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, but our station will focus on continuing local news and other programming related to their respective markets,” the company said.
Nexstar and Sinclair are one of the largest US broadcast television station owners owned and operated by companies in the local market, partnering with major networks such as ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS.
Nexstar owns approximately 30 stations belonging to ABC in markets such as Salt Lake City, Nashville, Tennessee and New Orleans. Sinclair owns and operates nearly 40 ABC affiliate stations.
Sinclair followed Nexter last week in pre-empting Kimmel’s show. Station owners replied late Monday after ABC returned it to air this week.
In a statement, Sinclair said the discussion with ABC is “ongoing in assessing the show’s potential returns.”
On Monday, Disney representatives did not comment on the discussions with Sinclair or other affiliate station owners. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
In a statement Monday announcing Kimmel’s return, Disney said “we have made the decision to suspend production of the show to avoid further inflaming the tense situation in our country’s emotional moments.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden have decided to warn Kimmel on Monday to comedians, CNBC reported. Local station owners learned on Monday that CNBC had reported at the time when Disney announced the release that Kimmel was coming back.
The FCC Threat
President Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Kerr, who is aiming to chair the Federal Communications Commission as he watches the launch of the 6th Test Flight of the SpaceX Starship Rocket, held in Brownsville, Texas, on November 19, 2024.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
The station offers local content such as live news, but it also broadcasts national programming that belongs to the network, including live sports, late-night television, national news shows, and Primetime series. Station owner license spectrum from the government and network is free. This means that consumers can watch the network for free with their antennas.
Following Kimmel’s comments last Monday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Kerr suggested there was a risk that the license would be revoked as the station and network are mandated to allow licenses to operate in the “public interest.”
Carr last week said on CNBC that Kimmel’s comments “appears to directly mislead the American people.”
During Kimmel’s opening monologue last Monday, Kimmel said that the “Magagang” is “deeply trying to characterize this child who murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them, and is trying to do everything he can to score political points from there.”
“There was sadness between my fingertips. On Friday, the White House flew the flag with half staff, which received some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is doing this.”
The FCC did not respond to requests for comment this week, but Carr won and weighed it on social media platform X on Tuesday.
“In Kimmel, Democrats have done nothing but predictions and distortions,” Cal said in the Post Tuesday.
“This is especially the first time that local TV stations have recently pushed back programmers from across the country like Disney, and that’s good because they want to empower local TV stations.
Since Trump took office for his second term, pressure has been on the media companies, with Kerr taking his post as head of the FCC earlier this year. Official statements condemning broadcasters, news outlets and certain programming raised questions about the protection of free speech.
Trump has banned certain reporters and news organizations from pooled press conferences, and earlier this week the Pentagon issued further restrictions for journalists.
The Trump administration has also filed lawsuits against news outlets such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. ABC News last year resolved a lawsuit in which the network agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s Presidential Library to resolve a dispute with the president. Before the merger with SkyDance Media, which officially closed in August, Paramount paid $16 million to resolve the lawsuit with Trump.
A few days after the settlement, the FCC granted approval for Paramount and Skydance to merge after more than a year of delay. Stephen Colbert, a late-night host of CBS, owned by Paramount Skydance, called the settlement “a big fat bribe.” CBS later announced the cancellation of “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” citing financial reasons.
Nexstar is currently seeking approval from the FCC. Teguna. And while it hasn’t ink trades yet, Sinclair is also exploring a merger option for the broadcaster.
Meanwhile, Disney is seeking regulatory approval for transactions in which the NFL acquires 10% of its ESPN in exchange for NFL media assets.
