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Sinclair and Nexstar to reinstate Kimmel on ABC stations Sinclair and Nexstar to reinstate Kimmel on ABC stations
(about 11 hours later)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! will now appear again on all ABC channels. Jimmy Kimmel Live! will now appear again across the US, after two of America's largest local TV station owners said they would resume showing the programme.
Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group announced on Friday they will bring the show back to their ABC affiliates after a week-long ban. Sinclair and Nexstar - which own dozens of stations affiliated with national broadcaster ABC - had taken the show off air for more than a week over comments Kimmel made about the recent killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
The two companies, which carry dozens of ABC stations across the US, pulled the programme over comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk's death. Both announced it would be reinstated on Friday after ABC itself brought the late-night talk show back following a brief suspension over his comments.
Sinclair decided to reinstate the late-night talk show after "thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders". The decision shows the power and influence national networks and local station owners have over one another.
Kimmel was also briefly suspended from all of ABC, and returned to the network on Tuesday. While networks rely on local stations airing their shows for advertising revenue, local stations count on networks producing popular shows that will draw in an audience.
"It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," he said in his opening monologue that night. Kimmel's return show saw his audience more than quadruple - despite about a quarter of ABC stations not airing it as the Nexstar and Sinclair ban continued.
By lifting the blackout, Sinclair and Nexstar viewers in cities like Washington, DC, Nashville, New Orleans and Seattle can now watch Kimmel's show again. Sinclair said it had decided to reinstate the talk show after "thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers and community leaders".
Sinclair said in a press release its discussions with ABC and parent company Disney are "ongoing and constructive". The media conglomerate said it had suggested measures to promote "accountability" within Disney. It wrote in a press release that its discussions with ABC and parent company Disney were "ongoing and constructive". The media conglomerate said it had suggested measures to promote "accountability" within Disney - though none of these have yed been adopted.
None of those measures have been adopted yet, it said. Nexstar also cited positive discussions with ABC, saying it appreciated the network's "constructive approach to addressing our concerns". The company said it was "committed to protecting the First Amendment".
Nexstar also cited positive discussions with ABC, saying in a press release that they "appreciate their constructive approach to addressing our concerns". The company said it is "committed to protecting the First Amendment". Kimmel sparked controversy by appearing to suggest the person who fatally shot Kirk, 31, at a university campus event in Utah earlier this month as a supporter of Donald Trump.
What happened? He said the US president and his allies were "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and trying to "score political points from it".
Kimmel landed in hot water after his 15 September monologue on conservative firebrand Kirk's death. He also likened Trump's reaction to the conservative firebrand's murder to "how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish".
He said US President Donald Trump and his allies were "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and trying to "score political points from it". Sinclair and Nexstar pulled the show after the Trump-appointed chair of America's broadcast watchdog threatened to revoke ABC's licence - prompting the network to suspend Kimmel and triggering a fierce debate about free speech.
He also likened Trump's reaction to the influencer's murder to "how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish". By lifting the ban, Sinclair and Nexstar viewers in cities like Washington DC, Nashville, New Orleans and Seattle will now be able to watch Kimmel's show again.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, who was appointed by Trump, threatened to revoke ABC's broadcast licence during an interview with a conservative podcast. Kimmel returned to air on Tuesday, expressing regret about his earlier remarks while hitting out at the Trump administration in a 28-minute monologue.
After Carr's comments, Sinclair and Nexstar said they would stop airing the show on their dozens of ABC affiliates. "It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man," he said.
ABC then pulled the show off the air entirely. But he criticised "anti-American" threats to free speech, accusing the Trump administration of "mob tactics".
This triggered nationwide debates about free speech, including online trends of people canceling their Disney+ subscriptions. "Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can't take a joke," the talk show host added.
Kimmel's comeback
Disney announced on Monday that Kimmel would return to air, but Sinclair and Nexstar maintained they would not air it.
His return show on Tuesday drew record ratings, with 6.26 million people watching it live despite a quarter of ABC stations not airing it.
Kimmel expressed regret about his earlier joke about Kirk, but also went after Trump and Carr for what he called "mob" censorship tactics.
"Our leader celebrates people losing their livelihoods because he can't take a joke," Kimmel said, adding that Trump openly rooting for people to lose their jobs was "un-American" and "dangerous".
Trump was openly disappointed in Kimmel's reinstatement.Trump was openly disappointed in Kimmel's reinstatement.
"I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back," he wrote in a social media post."I can't believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back," he wrote in a social media post.