Jimmy Kimmel may be returning to late-night, but whether viewers can watch him will depend on their local station. ABC affiliates owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group plan to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! when the host returns on Tuesday, though, the company says its negotiations with the network are still ongoing.
Sinclair, which owns the largest number of ABC affiliates among station groups, issued the following statement: “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 has faced public scrutiny for owning the largest number of television stations in the United States and for its close ties to Donald Trump‘s White House. According to The New York Times, the conglomerate has used its +170 stations “to advance a mostly right-leaning agenda.”
The Washington Post describes Sinclair as a “company with a long history of favoring conservative causes and candidates on its stations’ newscasts,” while The New York Times calls the group a “conservative giant.”
In was announced on Monday, September 22, less than one week after Jimmy Kimmel was suspended from ABC due to comments he made about Charlie Kirk, the late-night host would return to the airwaves. Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return with new episodes on Tuesday, September 23.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” The Walt Disney Company, ABC’s parent company, said in a statement. “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Click here to see a full list of all of Sinclair’s affiliates.
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