The standoff between Disney’s ABC and local TV station owner Sinclair about Jimmy Kimmel is over — for now.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to ABC affiliate stations controlled by Sinclair on Friday night after just over a week, the company said on Friday afternoon.
“Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,” Sinclair said. “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.”
Sinclair and fellow broadcast giant Nexstar, which together own about a quarter of ABC stations, had refused to air Kimmel’s show after the late-night host’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer, which were denounced by FCC chair Brendan Carr.
ABC temporarily suspended the show nationally last week, but brought it back on Tuesday night.
Nexstar hasn’t yet lifted its suspension on Kimmel’s show.
While Kimmel didn’t directly apologize for his remarks, he did express remorse in an emotional monologue on his first night back.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Sinclair had previously made a list of demands for the late-night host, including an apology by Kimmel to Kirk’s family and a “meaningful” donation to Turning Point USA, the conservative nonprofit that Kirk founded and ran until his death. Sinclair did not indicate in its statement that those terms had been met.
Sinclair said on Friday that it’d had “ongoing and constructive discussions with ABC” after receiving “thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers, and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives.” The broadcaster said it had proposed implementing an independent ombudsman, like CBS News did.
Disney-owned ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel’s show “indefinitely” drew backlash from both sides of the political aisle. Critics saw the Mouse House’s decision to bench Kimmel as capitulation to government pressure, and to broadcasters who need the FCC’s favor to approve future deals.
Pro-Kimmel protesters gathered at Disney’s Los Angeles campus, hundreds of Hollywood creatives signed a petition to bring the show back, and fans vowed to cancel their Disney streaming services in response. Even former Disney CEO Michael Eisner got into the mix.
Disney risked alienating its affiliate partners by bringing Kimmel back. However, Sinclair’s decision to restore the show suggests that CEO Bob Iger and Disney made the right call by listening to the crowd.
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