Nexstar ABC Stations Dropping Kimmel

[atlnews2 631]

Puck’s Matt Belloni says that abc has no plans to pull the Kimmel hosted Millionaire 

 

 

[DENDude 259]

This move almost feels like the F.C.C. got it's way over ABC & Disney.    Okay Mr. Kimmel may have said something in-sensitive, but at the same time it feels like ABC & Disney aren't going to stand up for there late night show, kinda lame. 

 

I 100% Agree with tyrannical bastard  and what he posted up above the network doesn't have a license & now ABC is just following what Mr. Sook is doing, LAME!!!! 

[atlnews2 631]

1 minute ago, DENDude said:

This move almost feels like the F.C.C. got it's way over ABC & Disney.    Okay Mr. Kimmel may have said something in-sensitive, but at the same time it feels like ABC & Disney aren't going to stand up for there late night show, kinda lame. 

 

I 100% Agree with tyrannical bastard  and what he posted up above the network doesn't have a license & now ABC is just following what Mr. Sook is doing, LAME!!!! 

it’s been clear that Disney is petrified of getting into another political fight a la Ron DeSantis. 
 

the fact of the matter is that Disney’s profits these days overwhelmingly come from their Experiences division (theme parks, cruises, and merchandise) - not the TV networks like in years past. The MAGA crowd make up a large part of the Experiences consumer base and Disney is terrified of alienating This segment of their fanbase. When TV was the driver Disney could shrug off such concerns because people would still be subscribed to a cable package, even if they “boycotted” Disney channels Disney got paid either way. Not the case anymore in today’s landscape. 

[hfiles 105]

I emailed my local affiliates with ABC, Nexstar, and Sinclair to let them know that I will not be watching their stations for the time being. I expect nothing to come of this, but I need my displeasure to be known.

[GraphicsMan 345]

3 minutes ago, hfiles said:

I emailed my local affiliates with ABC, Nexstar, and Sinclair to let them know that I will not be watching their stations for the time being. I expect nothing to come of this, but I need my displeasure to be known.

Don’t do that I don’t think we’re allowed to contact TV stations. Plus they have no power anyways, just call Disney.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

When people start canceling their pay TV and streaming services....THAT will scare the hell out of these companies.

Especially the broadcasters who have lived high and mighty off of retransmission fees of a FREE product.

 

8 minutes ago, GraphicsMan said:

Don’t do that I don’t think we’re allowed to contact TV stations. Plus they have no power anyways, just call Disney.

Contacting your local TV station is useless, especially when it's a mega broadcaster like Nexstar.

Maybe at a one or two off like Manship's WBRZ or KRGV, or KTBS in Shreveport, LA...

If enough viewers are pissed off enough, they have the power to tell ABC to take a hike.

 

 

WAY back in the day, WEWS was able to get a show cancelled.  This was with Turn On, a Laugh-in-like show that was literally pulled mid-episode by WEWS.  Some stations didn't even air it (in Mountain and Pacific time) and for those who did, it was only the 1 episode.

 

It was terrible enough at the time that even the viewers were calling WEWS in protest of how awful it was.

 

Here's the first episode:

 

Edited September 18, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[TVLurker 389]

32 minutes ago, atlnews2 said:

it’s been clear that Disney is petrified of getting into another political fight a la Ron DeSantis. 

 

I'm still upset Disney decided to settle with DeSantis instead of fighting for what's right. That was the beginning of the end for Disney as we knew it.

[24994J 5888]

29 minutes ago, GraphicsMan said:

Don’t do that I don’t think we’re allowed to contact TV stations. Plus they have no power anyways, just call Disney.

 

As a concerned viewer, you can, especially if they have a "complaint" line. However, do NOT do it as a news junkie, asking about talent moves and graphics, etc. And IF someone does do that, do NOT claim association with this forum and the greater community.

[atlnews2 631]

Sinclair says suspension isn't enough

 

Quote

Sinclair will not lift the suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.

 

Sinclair also calls upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family. Furthermore, we ask Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.

 

Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sinclair-says-kimmel-suspension-not-011700200.html

 

this is absolutely ridiculous. Disney should just pull the ripcord we all know is coming and put ABC as a tile on Disney+ and cut out the affiliates. Today's actions by Sinclair and Nexstar are a clear attach on free speech 

Edited September 18, 2025 by atlnews2

[24994J 5888]

2 hours ago, HanSolo said:

Not the revival of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (I kid.)

 

I said this on the Discord, and got about the same amount of crickets as your posting. 

[MidwestTV 1358]

It's absurd that Sinclair as a company is so upset about this. To be certain, the "outrage" is from the Sinclair ownership specifically. It's wild that THEY are acting so offended as if Kimmel was talking about THEM being the assassin. It's also grandstanding on behalf of your stations that may very well have an audience that likes Kimmel.

 

37 minutes ago, GraphicsMan said:

Don’t do that I don’t think we’re allowed to contact TV stations. Plus they have no power anyways, just call Disney.

 

Huh? Stations get dozens of calls and emails daily from people that are mad about something. If we "weren't allowed" to contact them they wouldn't have their addresses, phone numbers, emails and socials for every public talent, plastered all over their websites.

[Reweivvt88 173]

2 hours ago, atlnews2 said:

Kimmel is also the host of Millionaire. How ABC handles that May give us insight into what happens next 

Millionaire only has 1 episode left for the season, currently set to air September 25. I have a feeling that by then the episode wont air, despite what ABC is saying now.

[hfiles 105]

I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough about this so I want to ask the more knowledgeable crowd here. Would Sinclair's refusal to air Jimmy Kimmel be enough for Disney/ABC to threaten the termination of all Sinclair's ABC affiliates cross-country immediately? How much are affiliate stations allowed to preempt before the network can intervene?

 

Now the insane exaggeration round: If I owned a TV station and affiliated with ABC could my station air exactly 1 minute of World News Tonight every night from 6:35-6:36pm and still maintain affiliateship?

 

Interesting tidbit: A quick Google search says that Sinclair's contract with ABC expires in 2026. I could see this creating some waves.

[MidwestTV 1358]

Just now, hfiles said:

I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough about this so I want to ask the more knowledgeable crowd here. Would Sinclair's refusal to air Jimmy Kimmel be enough for Disney/ABC to threaten the termination of all Sinclair's ABC affiliates cross-country immediately?

 

Interesting tidbit: A quick Google search says that Sinclair's contract with ABC expires in 2026. I could see this creating some waves.

 

That would require ABC to have a spine, which they very obviously don't.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

25 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

It's absurd that Sinclair as a company is so upset about this. To be certain, the "outrage" is from the Sinclair ownership specifically. It's wild that THEY are acting so offended as if Kimmel was talking about THEM being the assassin. It's also grandstanding on behalf of your stations that may very well have an audience that likes Kimmel.

 

 

Huh? Stations get dozens of calls and emails daily from people that are mad about something. If we "weren't allowed" to contact them they wouldn't have their addresses, phone numbers, emails and socials for every public talent, plastered all over their websites.

 

They make Nexstar look very moderate as a result.

3 minutes ago, MidwestTV said:

 

That would require ABC to have a spine, which they very obviously don't.

 

Also, where would the affiliations go to? It's not like there's better options in many of the markets.

[MediaZone4K 2661]

Next on the hit list, The View... I question how they will proceed with this topic.

 

Edited September 18, 2025 by MediaZone4K

[atlnews2 631]

3 minutes ago, GoldenShine_10 said:

 

They make Nexstar look very moderate as a result.

 

Also, where would the affiliations go to? It's not like there's better options in many of the markets.

 

Do what they just did in Miami,  put it on the dot 2 of a different station owned by a more reputable company. 

[broadcastfan9751 150]

3 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

WMAR posted news involving this on their Facebook page and one of the comments said that ABC would rerun Celebrity Family Feud in that timeslot.

 

I mean, it would keep some kind of comedy in the late night slot as its games mixed in with comedy.

 

ABC is indeed airing Celebrity Family Feud right now in place of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

[Reweivvt88 173]

 

41 minutes ago, MediaZone4K said:

Next on the hit list, The View... I question how they will proceed with this topic.

 

 

I'm wondering if they will even mention the topic. The story is nowhere to be found on abcnews.com. It was the lead story on the hearst owned ABC station WCVB Boston's 11:00pm newscast, yet the story is missing entirely from ABC owned stations websites in LA and New York.

 

I'm wondering if ABC even had any say in the matter or if it was just a order from Disney. 

 

The far right was not watching Jimmy Kimmel Live. Kimmel had been going after Trump and republicans for years, and I remember reading interview from years ago with him saying ABC told him to stop and he refused. He didn't need the show, ABC needed him, they kept signing new contracts giving him things like the entire summer off with his kids to get him to stay. By cancelling Jimmy Kimmel Live, they are hurting the ABC brand with its actual audience. It's not like ratings crashed and advertisers were pulling their ads, yes some far right station groups pulled the show but it still would have aired in major markets and on hulu. Now they have upset their audience, ruined any ratings success in late night, and will likely have to pay Jimmy Kimmel the rest of his contract. I don't see how upsetting your audience and paying someone millions to not be on TV is good for the ABC network, but Disney doesn't want Trump to come after its more important assets so they don't care if ABC is harmed in this. 

[GraphicsMan 345]

4 minutes ago, Reweivvt88 said:

 

 

I'm wondering if they will even mention the topic. The story is nowhere to be found on abcnews.com. It was the lead story on the hearst owned ABC station WCVB Boston's 11:00pm newscast, yet the story is missing entirely from ABC owned stations websites in LA and New York.

 

I'm wondering if ABC even had any say in the matter or if it was just a order from Disney. 

 

The far right was not watching Jimmy Kimmel Live. Kimmel had been going after Trump and republicans for years, and I remember reading interview from years ago with him saying ABC told him to stop and he refused. He didn't need the show, ABC needed him, they kept signing new contracts giving him things like the entire summer off with his kids to get him to stay. By cancelling Jimmy Kimmel Live, they are hurting the ABC brand with its actual audience. It's not like ratings crashed and advertisers were pulling their ads, yes some far right station groups pulled the show but it still would have aired in major markets and on hulu. Now they have upset their audience, ruined any ratings success in late night, and will likely have to pay Jimmy Kimmel the rest of his contract. I don't see how upsetting your audience and paying someone millions to not be on TV is good for the ABC network, but Disney doesn't want Trump to come after its more important assets so they don't care if ABC is harmed in this. 

I smell dictatorship… Trump really is coming for the broadcast networks ABC could get really hurt from this and they have no spine so there letting this happen to them.

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

WCVB went an hour tonight at 11pm with a repeat of a Chronicle episode at midnight.

 

Sounds like ABC will keep Nightline at 12:35am for the time being.

 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

In saner times, Perry Sook's decision to drop Kimmel would have sent the full force of ABC to declare him in breach of contract and potentially strip them of their affiliations. 

 

But here we are and wannabe media mogul Perry Sook is trying to be David Smith 2.0 by shoving NewsNation down the throats of any viewers of any Nexstar station.  Hopefully more people will know Perry Sook's name and Nexstar will pay dearly for it.  Hopefully ABC walks, and Tegna pulls out of the merger. 

 

It's time to start focusing on the advertisers that choose to do business with Nexstar and either boycott them or encourage them not to do business with Nexstar in the future.

 

Remember when WHDH tried to do the same with Jay Leno's horrible 10p show?  WHDH relented, but got the last laugh because the show was a horrible bomb and an even bigger disaster for any other NBC affiliates.

Edited September 18, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[atlnews2 631]

deadline seems to be suggesting that this is temporary and that kimmel will be back once the heat dies down. Does anyone believe this will happen ?  

 

Quote

Kimmel made it clear he was unwilling to apologize for his remarks, according to insiders, and was going to direct the focus on President Trump’s most fervent supporters, who have been in uproar since Monday night when Kimmel said the “MAGA gang desperately [is] trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it”.

We hear he was planning to call out some of these supporters, while clarifying his comments. 

It’s unclear exactly which comments were considered inflammatory but sources say the phrase “one of them” has been taken out of context.

Disney felt that if he had doubled down, the company would have been forced make a more drastic decision on Jimmy Kimmel Live’s future instead of the announced preemption, sources said.

The company hopes that it will be able to have Kimmel back on the air “soon”, per sources, but whether Kimmel himself is willing is also unclear.

 

 

https://deadline.com/2025/09/jimmy-kimmel-decision-disney-dana-walden-bob-iger-1236547651/

[Reweivvt88 173]

1 hour ago, atlnews2 said:

deadline seems to be suggesting that this is temporary and that kimmel will be back once the heat dies down. Does anyone believe this will happen ?  

 

 

 

https://deadline.com/2025/09/jimmy-kimmel-decision-disney-dana-walden-bob-iger-1236547651/

I don't see how that's possible. He refused to "apologize" (apologizing would be absurd as he has nothing to apologize for) and he has no reason to apologize in the future because he doesn't need the job. He has tons of money and an amazing family he loves to spend time with, there are tons of other things he can make money doing, and since he has no reason to apologize, bringing the show back would just put Disney in the exact same position they are now. Disney is terrified of upsetting trump and they know bringing the show back would just make him furious. The ABC sources talking to deadline seem out of touch with reality of what just happened here. It's not like ABC just cancelled tonight's taping and put Jimmy Kimmel Live in repeats for the rest of the week for the situation to die down, his show was yanked from the schedule immediately & indefinitely. When Megyn Kelly & Sharon Osborne made racist comments on Megyn Kelly Today & The Talk, NBC and CBS still aired repeats of both shows until they both departed the network. Disney's actual decisions don't imply this is temporary at all and it seems like the ABC sources are trying to make it seem like it will be up to Jimmy Kimmel when the reality is Disney & ABC caved to MAGA. 

[mre29 1967]

4 hours ago, atlnews2 said:

this is absolutely ridiculous. Disney should just pull the ripcord we all know is coming and put ABC as a tile on Disney+ and cut out the affiliates. Today's actions by Sinclair and Nexstar are a clear attach on free speech 

 

Ah, yes. Punishing all of the network's affiliates because of the actions of those two companies. That'll go over well.

 

Quote

Sinclair will not lift the suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.

 

Sinclair also calls upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family. Furthermore, we ask Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.

 

Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.

 

  That's rich coming from the company that makes its stations air propaganda pieces during newscasts.

 

Also, Kimmel can make a personal donation to the Kirk family, but he is under no obligation to donate to TPUSA.