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Breaking: Jimmy Kimmel Returning to Sinclair’s ABC Affiliate Stations on Friday
Sinclair Broadcasting said it has reached an agreement with Disney and ABC to return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to its ABC affiliate stations starting Friday night. Even after ABC reinstated Kimmel on Tuesday night, Sinclair and Nexstar preempted his show and said that discussions with Disney were “ongoing.”
Sinclair is restoring Kimmel to its affiliates after making proposals to Disney, including a “network-wide independent ombudsman” at ABC. Despite the proposals, Sinclair will restore Kimmel to its channels without ABC agreeing to them.
“Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,” Sinclair said in a statement. “We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.”
Together, Sinclair and Nexstar own approximately a quarter of Disney’s ABC affiliates nationwide. Sinclair owns the ABC affiliates in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Tulsa, San Antonio, and Seattle, as well as dozens of other markets across the country.
Kimmel’s issues started last week, when Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr told a podcast that broadcasters should “stop airing Kimmel’s show,” after his remarks about Kirk. Carr made a not-so-veiled threat to broadcasters, saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Moments after Carr made his remarks, Nexstar, the largest station group owner in the country, announced that it was pulling Kimmel from its ABC-affiliated networks. According to Rolling Stone, executives at Disney, ABC, and its affiliated stations gathered for a meeting after Nexstar’s decision, where many of the executives in attendance did not believe that Kimmel had said anything wrong.
Despite that, Disney caved to the pressure from Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcasting, the largest owner of ABC affiliates in the country, to pull Kimmel from the air. Sinclair said that it will not return Kimmel to its stations until “formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability,” and until Kimmel makes a direct apology to the Kirk Family, and for the network makes a significant donation to the family and Turning Point U.S.A.
It does not appear that any of those demands were met, as Sinclair has agreed to put Kimmel back on its ABC stations nationwide.
What do you think of Jimmy Kimmel’s return to Sinclair Broadcasting’s ABC affiliates? Let us know in the comments.
Their requested demands should have been met at least to some extent. The professionalism and accountability for sure. He still would have his freedom of speech but just controlled some. If I said something that someone didn’t like, I would have to be accountable for my words. Kimmel should have to be too and not only him but all talk show hosts. I also never heard the word SORRY in his so called apology. I may have missed it though with all the BS he put into the speech. I know this is not about them, but The View is even worse than Kimmel.
Disney should wise up. Any temporary losses (c’mon man who watches this anyway) could have been made up by us conservatives if we have faith in the company again. Disney stocks would have shot up. I thought Disney may have been on the right track getting rid of Jimmy. Guess the leftists have chimed in. Losing one of their propaganda sources. Was hoping Disney was going back to their family-oriented ways. Probably subscribe to all their programming. I may be able to go to a “children’s” movie with my family and not have to worry about some LBBGGTTQQ or whatever all of a sudden being thrown in. Gender dysphoria needs to be treated by a psychiatrist and not condoned or treated by medical or surgical castration. How sick is the term transgender children? How many people actually watch late night? Most if not all of us conservatives have jobs to go to in the morning. Jimmy spewed angry, non-entertaining leftist propaganda. Even a sponsor would think twice about paying for that kind of exposure. Jimmy was on his way out anyway. The show is a money pit trying to be kept relevant by leftists. Look up the word fascist when you get a chance. Don’t cherry pick what is and is not allowed. Look up socialist and what the new leftist golden boy running for the mayor of New York is all about. Stop regurgitating what others say and educate yourself. Charlie Kirk always explained his views with reasoning and statistics. He always welcomed other views and treated people with respect. He was murdered in front of his family. Trying to tell a joke around the circumstances of someone’s assassination is seriously wrong. Maybe Jimmy needs some help. Turning Point USA will continue on and honor Charlies life’s work. Be a part of it, donate, even a little from all of us will go a long way in fixing the mess that was created the previous four years. Wise up parents. Democrats get back in control the schools will be overrun with gender ideology.