Sinclair Will Put Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Its Channels After All
After three whole days of refusing to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its ABC affiliates, Sinclair announced that, actually, it has changed its mind. The company, which owns the most ABC affiliates in the country, had been preempting Kimmel’s return to the airwaves due to his controversial (?) comments surrounding Charlie Kirk’s murder. Now, following the most-watched episode of Kimmel ever, Sinclair is naturally changing course. The show will be back on Sinclair stations on Friday.
In a press release, Sinclair stated that it had “received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives.” It also said that it has proposed “measures to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue” to Disney and ABC, but that the companies have “not yet adopted these measures.” It seems like Sinclair got nothing out of this and it couldn’t even sell ads against the biggest episode of late-night TV in years. Lose-lose.
Kimmel was suspended by ABC last week after FCC chair Brendan Carr said that his agency had a “strong case” for revoking the network’s broadcast license. While this sounds like a pretty direct threat from the federal government, Sinclair noted that its decision to keep Kimmel off TV had nothing to do with government pressure or any mergers it is “exploring” that might require FCC approval.
“Our decision to preempt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence,” the company shared in its press release. “Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the content on their local stations. While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.” It should be noted that the free-speech violation in this whole mess is definitely not private citizens demanding that Sinclair put Kimmel back on their TVs.
Nexstar, the country’s other top station owner, has not budged on its decision to preempt Kimmel. “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,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “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.” According to CNBC, that means that 20 percent of the country will still not get Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC.
That’s their loss, because Kimmel is taking his show to Brooklyn next week. Tom Hanks is going to be on! Fun!
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