Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC Return Net Best Viewer in 10 Years
Jimmy Kimmel returned to ABC after nearly a week of airing. Over six million people have been adjusted to see Kimmel’s return, the show’s best viewer in a decade.
Sinclair Broadcasting Group and Nexstar Media Group have announced that they will suspend the opening goal of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” At ABC Station starting on Friday evening, September 26th.
Broadcast Giants refused to air the first few episodes of the talk show’s return, despite Disney and ABC having finished Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension.
In an announcement Friday, Nexstar spoke with Disney executives and said it appreciated its “constructive approach to addressing concerns.” The company said the decision was not affected by government agencies or external individuals.
“As a local broadcaster, Nexstar is committed to protecting and broadcasting the First Amendment while producing and broadcasting content, which is factual and most of all, the best interest of the communities we serve,” the company said.
Ahead of the Nexstar announcement, Sinclair said it will air the talk show after addressing feedback from viewers, advertisers and community leaders.
“The goal of this whole process was to ensure that programming was accurate and attractive to the widest audience possible,” Sinclair said in a announcement Friday. “We take our responsibility as a local broadcaster seriously to provide programming that serves the benefit of our community, while also celebrating our obligation to broadcast national network programming.”
Sinclair also proposed measures to “enhance accountability, audience feedback and community dialogue,” but said ABC and Disney have not adopted these measures yet.
Sources familiar with the situation but not allowed to speak publicly said Sinclair’s decision did not make editorial or content concessions.
The company also dismissed concerns that ABC’s suspension and Sinclair’s refusal to air the show were examples of the Trump administration’s violation of freedom of speech.
“Our decision to preempt this programme was unrelated to government interactions and influence. Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to make judgments about the content of local stations,” added Sinclair. “We understand that not everyone agrees with our decisions regarding programming, but defending free speech while asking broadcasters to vacate certain content is simply contradictory.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended after Charlie Kirk commented
Disney and ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” broadcast Following anger from both the Giants and Federal Communications Commission’s Brendan Kerr, it surpassed the controversial comments of comedians surrounding Kirk’s murder on the September 15th episode.
Disney allowed the show to return on September 23, but in an episode where Kimmel worked on the suspension and his comments, both Sinclair and Nexter refused to broadcast the ABC affiliate show.
On September 17th, Sinclair Vice President Jason Smith requested an apology from Kimmel for his comments.
The group also said it replaced Kimmel’s ABC Timeslot on September 19th, replacing it with a special memory in honor of Kirk before back-pedaling the “celebrity family feud” in return. According to Sinclair, the special was scheduled to be dropped on YouTube instead.
When will the next new Jimmy Kimmel episode be?
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” new episode will air on ABC on Friday nights at 11:35pm ET.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributions: USA Today, Anna Kaufman
