Broadcast groups Nexstar and Sinclair have announced they are ending their preemptions of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The broadcast groups, which own a combined total of around 60 ABC affiliate stations, according to their websites, both announced Friday afternoon that the show will return to airwaves on the affiliate stations starting Friday evening.
In a statement, Sinclair said, “Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience.”
It added, “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 company added that during the preemption, it “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,” Sinclair continued, saying “these events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important.”
The company said it proposed suggestions to ABC moving forward, including “measures to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue, including a network-wide independent ombudsman.”
According to the statement, ABC has yet to adopt the measures. Sinclair said it believes “such measures could strengthen trust and accountability.”
It added, “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.”
Nexstar released a statement on Friday, announcing the return of Kimmel’s show to its airwaves and saying the company “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.”
The statement continued, “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 broadcaster added that its “commitment to those principles has guided our decisions throughout this process, independent of any external influence from government agencies or individuals.”
The Walt Disney Co., the parent company of ABC, previously announced Kimmel would return to its airwaves on Tuesday evening after his late-night show was preempted by the network for nearly a week.
After that announcement, Sinclair and Nexstar each released statements of their own, saying then that they would continue to preempt the show.
“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,” Sinclair stated at the time.
In a separate statement at the time, Nexstar said, “We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse. 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.”
It added, “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.”
In a more than 15-minute monologue at the top of his show on Tuesday, Kimmel gave an impassioned defense of free speech, needled the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and President Donald Trump, and explained his previous comments about the response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC first announced that Kimmel’s show would be preempted “indefinitely” on Sept. 17, following Kimmel’s comments regarding Kirk’s death.
Before the network’s decision to preempt the show was announced last week, FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested that Kimmel should be suspended over the comments.
“There’s calls for Kimmel to be fired. I think, you know, you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this and again, you know, the FCC is going to have remedies that we could look at,” Carr said on a podcast with conservative commentator Benny Johnson at that time.
Unions that represent entertainment professionals and TV writers condemned the move.
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