Nexstar ABC Stations Dropping Kimmel

[HanSolo 467]

12 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

 

Only thing new here is this tidbit:

 

"We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve."

 

Whatever that means. I'm willing to bet they want Kimmel to have more conservatives on.

If only there were a multitude of media sources on which conservative (or what masquerades as conservative here in 2025) figures and viewpoints were available unchallenged, and without any tether to reality, around the clock. 

[mre29 1967]

The drama's not over for Disney -- now the company's facing a shareholder lawsuit.

 

Quote

“There is a credible basis to suspect that the Board and executives may have breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, care, and good faith by placing improper political or affiliate considerations above the best interests of the Company and its stockholders,” says a letter delivered to Bob Iger today from Roberta Kaplan and other lawyers for the American Federation of Teachers, mega-union the AFL-CIO and Reporters Without Borders.

“The Company’s response to the books and records demands set forth below will allow AFT and RWB to assess the ability of the Board to impartially consider a demand for action, including a request for permission to file a derivative lawsuit on Disney’s behalf in the event that members of the Board or Disney executives did not properly discharge their fiduciary duties,” the attorneys for the House of Mouse shareholders add.

 

 

One more thing....

 

Quote

“A bedrock of the United States and the key to our survival as the world’s oldest democracy is freedom of speech,” the Kaplan Martin founder and counsel for AFT and RSF told Deadline today. “The government cannot and should not threaten to punish someone simply because it does not like what they have to say. And while large media companies have been at the front lines, they too should not succumb to unconstitutional threats or blackmail. ABC was the network to run the series Schoolhouse Rock more than 50 years ago. Its leadership should pay attention to the important lessons it taught, particularly in the episodes ‘The Preamble’ and ‘No More Kings.’”

 

It's time to bring back Schoolhouse Rock. Even if the episodes have to be remade for HD, it's time.

 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

ABC and/or the Southeastern Conference need to hit Nexstar and Sinclair where it hurts...

 

And if any other conferences want to join in that ABC broadcasts on their network, the more the better!

 

It probably wouldn't work selectively boycotting the Nexstar and Sinclair stations, but if they were to pull their programming from the network, it would cause Nexstar and Sinclair to react swiftly before losing it all...

[mre29 1967]

I really hope Nexstar and Sinclair's shareholders are paying attention, because they probably have a case, too.

 

[AmericanErrorist 267]

5 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

ABC and/or the Southeastern Conference need to hit Nexstar and Sinclair where it hurts...

 

And if any other conferences want to join in that ABC broadcasts on their network, the more the better!

 

It probably wouldn't work selectively boycotting the Nexstar and Sinclair stations, but if they were to pull their programming from the network, it would cause Nexstar and Sinclair to react swiftly before losing it all...

Again, no one in leadership positions in college sports cares. Enough of them are outright Trump supporters, and anyone else just wants their broadcasts to air, especially since they have no political commentary to speak of. 

6 hours ago, mre29 said:

The drama's not over for Disney -- now the company's facing a shareholder lawsuit.

 

 

The AFT is arguably somewhat meaningful, as their members are customers of various state and local teacher pension plans, but RSF can't do very much (I was surprised that they even have any Disney stock).

[Reweivvt88 173]

4 hours ago, mre29 said:

I really hope Nexstar and Sinclair's shareholders are paying attention, because they probably have a case, too.

 

That's the other thing. Most of the Sinclair stations are last place garbage stations, and they are choosing not to air a show that is getting huge ratings. Shareholders should care that the company owns stations like KOMO in left wing markets like Seattle that are facing local advertiser and viewer boycotts due to Sinclair refusing to allow its stations to air a show that is bringing in massive ratings. They are giving up increased ratings for not just the 11:35pm time slot but also the stations local late night and morning newscasts, and on top of that, viewers are boycotting the stations local newscasts and protesting outside the station. 

 

What I think Disney should do is start pulling ABC affiliates in markets where losing ABC would hurt Sinclair the most with little impact to ABC. For example, in Seattle they could pull ABC from KOMO and put ABC on Tegna's KONG. KOMO is one of Sinclair's strongest ABC stations,  losing ABC would be a devastating blow to a station that is already facing major challenges as a Sinclair station in a left wing market. Yes I know Nexstar is trying to buy Tegna, but my point is there are markets where leaving Sinclair immediately is a viable option for ABC. 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

If these kinds of preemptions are going to become more commonplace, ABC should strike back and provide the affected programming to their Disney+ or Hulu customers in pattern. 

 

This would be a great tool in times where programming HAS to be pre-empted like a tornado warning or breaking news emergency is taking place.

 

This is 2025.  It's entirely possible and there's no excuse for it not to happen.  Broadcast TV has been dying for decades and when Nexstar and Sinclair pull this crap, they only drive away their audiences further away only to never return because they were forced away. 

 

Had they just left it alone, they could have saved some viewer loyalty, but it's probably never coming back after stunts like this.

[AmericanErrorist 267]

17 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

If these kinds of preemptions are going to become more commonplace, ABC should strike back and provide the affected programming to their Disney+ or Hulu customers in pattern. 

 

This would be a great tool in times where programming HAS to be pre-empted like a tornado warning or breaking news emergency is taking place.

 

This is 2025.  It's entirely possible and there's no excuse for it not to happen.  Broadcast TV has been dying for decades and when Nexstar and Sinclair pull this crap, they only drive away their audiences further away only to never return because they were forced away. 

 

Had they just left it alone, they could have saved some viewer loyalty, but it's probably never coming back after stunts like this.

NBC, CBS, and Fox are part of the services of Peacock Premium Plus, Paramount+ with Showtime and Fox One in ways that ABC isn't a part of base Hulu, as an apparent upsell for Hulu + Live TV.

Edited September 26, 2025 by AmericanErrorist

[AKA 70]

6 hours ago, Reweivvt88 said:

What I think Disney should do is start pulling ABC affiliates in markets where losing ABC would hurt Sinclair the most with little impact to ABC. For example, in Seattle they could pull ABC from KOMO and put ABC on Tegna's KONG. KOMO is one of Sinclair's strongest ABC stations,  losing ABC would be a devastating blow to a station that is already facing major challenges as a Sinclair station in a left wing market. Yes I know Nexstar is trying to buy Tegna, but my point is there are markets where leaving Sinclair immediately is a viable option for ABC. 

I think what’s likely to happen is ABC moves to KIRO once CBS inevitably moves to KSTW.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

2 hours ago, AKA said:

I think what’s likely to happen is ABC moves to KIRO once CBS inevitably moves to KSTW.

All it takes is a decent owner making a better offer than what Sinclair can currently provide.  Money talks and affiliations walk.

[mre29 1967]

7 hours ago, AKA said:

I think what’s likely to happen is ABC moves to KIRO once CBS inevitably moves to KSTW.

 

When does KIRO's current affiliation agreement with CBS end, anyway?

 

 

[Georgie56 3661]

Sinclair has ended their embargo.

 

 

[MorningNews 1711]

Their statement makes it seem like they didn’t get any concessions from ABC. Quite a bit of pandering to this administration in their statement too. 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

31 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

Sinclair has ended their embargo.

 

 

Sinclair is going to tell it their way, when in reality, ABC was likely getting ready to throw down the hammer this weekend and Sinclair folded like a deck chair on the Titanic.

[Recovering Producer 410]

16 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Sinclair is going to tell it their way, when in reality, ABC was likely getting ready to throw down the hammer this weekend and Sinclair folded like a deck chair on the Titanic.

 

God I hope someone leaks that cease and desist letter from Bob Iger and Mickey Mouse's legal team to Hunt Valley that caused this change of heart. If there's one media/entertainment company legal team I never want to see on the other side a courtroom, it is Disney's.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

50 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:

Sinclair is going to tell it their way, when in reality, ABC was likely getting ready to throw down the hammer this weekend and Sinclair folded like a deck chair on the Titanic.

 

This looks like a case that Disney was threatening their affiliations and they had to fold like a house of cards.

[kjohnson 20]

I figured the Mouse was going to get tired of the antics. Cue the spin on The National Desk this evening. 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

It's the moment Perry Sook has been waiting for....

 

Playing a high-stakes game of poker with the Blue-haired lawyers at Disney.

 

You though losing WJMN's CBS affiliation was bad....

Edited September 26, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[Georgie56 3661]

Perry put himself in a lose-lose situation now. Bring back Kimmel, no Tegna merger. Keep the ban going, no more ABC affiliations.

[TVLurker 389]

2 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

Sinclair has ended their embargo.

 

 

I'm guessing ABC made a legit threat and I believe that Sinclair had no choice but to give in. If Sinclair continued than not only would ABC strip them of their affiliations but they wouldn't be able to get new ABC affiliations.

 

What had been adverted would of been WPLG on steroids.

[EVVTV12 204]

NEW YORK (AP) — Nexstar Media Group joined Sinclair Broadcast Group in bringing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back to its local TV stations on Friday, restoring the late-night talk show to the full slate of ABC affiliates across the U.S.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

5 minutes ago, EVVTV12 said:

NEW YORK (AP) — Nexstar Media Group joined Sinclair Broadcast Group in bringing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back to its local TV stations on Friday, restoring the late-night talk show to the full slate of ABC affiliates across the U.S.

 

That also likely was due to Disney threatening affiliations.

[NowBergen 924]

15 minutes ago, EVVTV12 said:

NEW YORK (AP) — Nexstar Media Group joined Sinclair Broadcast Group in bringing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back to its local TV stations on Friday, restoring the late-night talk show to the full slate of ABC affiliates across the U.S.

I'm sure Uncle Perry, even with Carr's support and encouragement, couldn't do this alone anymore and had to cave.  If viewers were boycotting both group's stations, and with the new linear season starting, there was more to lose than hold on.   

[mre29 1967]

54 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

Perry put himself in a lose-lose situation now. Bring back Kimmel, no Tegna merger. Keep the ban going, no more ABC affiliations.

 

If anything this whole affair has proven that Nexstar doesn't have the public's interest at heart and that the Tegna merger should be toast.

 

[atlnews2 631]

I really hope in the coming days someone leaks to the press the discussions between Disney and these companies

59 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

Perry put himself in a lose-lose situation now. Bring back Kimmel, no Tegna merger. Keep the ban going, no more ABC affiliations.

At least Nexstar didn’t put out an embarrassing statement like Sinclair saying an apology wasn’t enough, Kimmel also needed to donate money to TurningPoinyUSA 

 

Sinclair walked back basically everything in that initial press release. The Kirk special, the donation, the apology, everything