Another major owner of local TV stations in the United States has announced that it will not air Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night television on Tuesday.
Nexstar said in a statement that it will instead continue to “preempt” Jimmy Kimmel Live! as it monitors how he carries himself in his return to air. It did not say how long it will continue its wait-and-see approach before making a permanent determination.
The Texas-based company, which owns the most local TV stations in the country, announced its decision on Tuesday, the morning after the MAGA-friendly Sinclair Broadcast Group revealed that it also would not air Kimmel’s return on its affiliates.
“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 wrote in a statement. “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’s decision to follow Sinclair means that tens of millions of Americans—in markets that include Seattle, St. Louis, Nashville, Salt Lake City, and the nation‘s capital—will not be able to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live! over the air on Tuesday.
The New York Times reports that the local TV giants together own nearly a quarter of all ABC affiliates in the country. Other major owners, including Gray and Hearst, plan to air the show.
Nexstar and Sinclair have suggested they will air local programming in place of Kimmel’s show at 11:35 p.m. EST on Tuesday.
“In the meantime, we note that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets,” Nexstar said.
The drama surrounding Kimmel began after he suggested on his Sept. 15 show that Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, was likely connected to the “MAGA gang.”
Kimmel actually said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Right-wing backlash ensued, and Puck reports that ABC suspended Kimmel on Wednesday after he refused to deliver a toned-down response on air.
ABC and its parent company, Disney, have been harshly criticized by those on both sides of the political divide. Many Republicans are upset that Kimmel has been reinstated, while prominent Democrats remain angry that he was ever suspended in the first place.
Disney’s decision to pull Kimmel from the air came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr, an appointee of President Donald Trump, suggested that he would inflict punishment on ABC if it did not reprimand Kimmel in some way.
Carr alleged on CNBC last week that Kimmel had “directly misled the American public about… probably one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time.”
MAGA, including Trump himself, celebrated Kimmel’s suspension. That same crowd hurled attacks at ABC on Monday after the network announced that it would bring Kimmel back to the air and end his suspension, which lasted less than a week.
Kimmel’s return passed the onus on to local network owners to decide whether they want to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! or not.
Nexstar, which requires the FCC’s approval for an ongoing merger valued at more than $6 billion, has decided to take the path with the least political resistance for now.
The post Local Station Civil War Grows as Another Owner Refuses to Air Kimmel appeared first on The Daily Beast.
