Nexstar ABC affiliates to keep ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ off the air

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Nexstar Media Group, Inc. announced Tuesday that the company’s television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network would continue to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse,”

Nexstar said in a press release. “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”

Nexstar, the parent company of ABC4, announced on Sept. 17 that its ABC affiliates would pre-empt the show indefinitely over the comments made by Kimmel following the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

Sinclair soon joined in pre-empting the show from their ABC affiliate stations, calling on Kimmel to apologize and make a “meaningful personal donation” to Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA.

ABC suspended Kimmel’s show soon after Nexstar’s announcement. However, the Walt Disney Company has since decided to return the show to air beginning Tuesday evening.

In a statement shared to NewsNation Monday, Disney said the decision to preempt the late-night show was “made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

“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,” the statement read.

Nexstar says that in the meantime, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be available nationwide on Disney-owned streaming platforms.

Based in Irving, Texas, Nexstar Media Group owns and operates over 200 stations, 28 of which are ABC affiliates. The company recently announced a $6.2 billion deal to buy TEGNA Inc. The deal would require the Federal Communications Commission to change rules limiting how many stations one company can own.

FCC Chair, Brendan Carr defended ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel off the air. Carr has also expressed openness to changing station limit rules in favor of Nexstar’s upcoming deal.

In place of Kimmel, ABC4 will be airing the news at 10 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.