Sinclair, one of two large local TV owners that dropped “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after the late-night comedian’s remarks on the Trump administration’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, said on Friday that it would resume showing the program after negotiations with its parent company, Disney.
“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.”
The company, which owns scores of TV stations across the United States, had been pre-empting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since the show’s return on Tuesday, blacking out the program for millions of Americans.
Nexstar, another local TV giant, has also dropped Mr. Kimmel’s show, setting off a days-long standoff with Disney.
Disney had no immediate comment.
Sinclair and Nexstar, two of the largest owners of local TV stations, have been engaged in a corporate tug-of-war with Disney that has became a symbol for free speech in the United States. Their boycott set off a national firestorm and laid bare the inner workings of broadcast television, which relies on a sprawling network of local stations to deliver National Football League games, top-of-the-hour weather updates and late-night comedy to millions of Americans.
The groups that control these local stations often have little direct interaction with viewers, who mostly know local stations by their alphabet soup call-signs and local newscasts.
For many viewers, that changed last week. Nexstar and Sinclair’s decision to pre-empt Mr. Kimmel threw a spotlight on the vast reach and influence of local station groups, which have the clout to black out shows in major metropolitan areas across the United States. Those groups own scores of stations, the result of mergers that have consolidated control of local TV in the hands of a few powerful companies.
Nexstar has a major deal pending before the Trump administration, a $6.2 billion pact to acquire the local TV colossus Tegna. To complete that merger, Nexstar would need to secure permission from the Federal Communications Commission, and it would require that agency to relax rules that limit the national reach of local TV companies.
Both actions fall within the purview of Brendan Carr, the chairman of the F.C.C., who has applauded Nexstar and Sinclair’s decision to make their own decisions about Mr. Kimmel’s show.
The standoff between Disney and the local TV companies comes at a pivotal time for the industry. Next week, the F.C.C. is meeting to review major rules that could reshape the television landscape, including a provision that limits a single entity from owning more than two television stations in the same local market. Mr. Carr has also expressed skepticism of a rule that prevents TV station groups from reaching more than 39 percent of Americans, a move that would probably kick off a flurry of deals among broadcast TV owners.
F.C.C. rules give local stations the right to reject programs that they believe their viewers may find unsuitable — though that provision is generally used sparingly, rather than as part of a sustained political boycott. While agreements between networks and local stations usually limit the number of times that an affiliate can pre-empt a particular program, those terms have rarely been applied to an ongoing pre-emption for political purposes.
Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at [email protected].
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