After more than a week off the company’s network affiliates, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is slated to return to Sinclair-owned ABC stations on Friday night.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the local television ownership giant revealed it will stop preempting the program, and will allow the program to air in its 11:35 PM ET timeslot.
“Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,” the statement reads. “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.”
Later, Sinclair revealed that it has asked Disney and ABC to make significant changes to the way it operates.
“In our ongoing and constructive discussions with ABC, Sinclair proposed measures to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue, including a network-wide independent ombudsman,” the statement said. “These proposals were suggested as collaborative efforts between the ABC affiliates and the ABC network.
“While ABC and Disney have not yet adopted these measures, and Sinclair respects their right to make those decisions under our network affiliate agreements, we believe such measures could strengthen trust and accountability.”
Sinclair shared last week that it planned to preempt the show in favor of news programming in the wake of controversy surrounding statements made by Jimmy Kimmel in the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk. ABC later put Kimmel’s program on hiatus before returning the program earlier this week.
Sinclair was not the only local station ownership group to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Nexstar Media Group made similar commitments to not air the program on its ABC stations.
In the midst of its decision to preempt the show, questions about government interference — namely from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr — arose. Sinclair, however, says the statements from Carr or any other official did not factor into it’s decision to preempt the late-night show.
“Our decision to preempt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence. Free speech providues broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the content of 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.”
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Sinclair tried to censor the show and it backfired on them. They can write up whatever spin they want to, but they know the truth. We do not need Sinclair or Nexstar censoring content for us. They need to broadcast, and we can determine if we want to watch It or not..and the ratings can decide if a show stays on the air or not.