Nexstar Media Group announced Wednesday it will continue to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its ABC affiliates tonight, but said it was having “productive discussions” with Disney about the show’s future.
“Nexstar 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,” the company said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “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.”
The update extends a standoff that began last week, when Nexstar announced it would not air the show following remarks in Kimmel’s September 17 monologue that ABC later termed “ill-timed and insensitive.” Sinclair has also opted out of carrying the program, leaving viewers in markets including Washington, D.C., Nashville, New Orleans, Portland, and Salt Lake City unable to see the show on broadcast television.
Kimmel acknowledged the situation during his return on Tuesday, joking that “none of my wife’s family is able to watch” and estimating that the blackout affects about 20 percent of the country. ABC reinstated Kimmel earlier this week after a five-day suspension, with the show continuing to air outside of Nexstar and Sinclair markets, and nationwide on streaming.
Nexstar’s Kimmel preemptions come as the company pursues a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna that would add about 65 more stations to its portfolio, a deal that requires regulatory approval from the FCC.
“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.”
Translation, we’re afraid of what Trump’s FCC will try to do to us, and so we’re making a big show of asking the impossible – for a comedian in 2025 to only joke about Trump half of the time and then say a few made-up good things the rest of the time.