Sinclair Reverses Plan to Air Kirk Doc in Kimmel Timeslot

In a move that suggests behind-the-scenes wrangling with ABC, Sinclair announced late Friday that it would not air the Charlie Kirk documentary it had previously scheduled to run in Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s time slot.

Instead, the company directed viewers to YouTube to watch the film and issued a statement saying, “Sinclair will continue to air ABC network programming as scheduled in the late-night time period.”

With Kimmel pre-empted at the network level, ABC viewers nationwide—including those in Sinclair markets—were served a repeat of Celebrity Family Feud.

Sinclair was one of two large station groups that had told ABC they planned to pre-empt Kimmel at the urging of FCC chair Brendan Carr last Wednesday, coinciding with ABC’s announcement that it would indefinitely pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its lineup.

In a statement last week, Sinclair said that suspension of the show at the network level was “not enough,” adding that it would not reinstate Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its stations “until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.”

“Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program,” the company continued, “Sinclair intends not to return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”

Contracts between networks and affiliates generally require stations to carry network programming at designated times, ensuring nationwide reach. While affiliates retain preemption rights for breaking news or sporting events, preempting for other reasons could, at least in theory, raise breach-of-contract concerns.

Sinclair was said to be planning to air the Kirk documentary in a time slot that would not interfere with network programming.