Millions of Americans are set to miss Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night TV on Tuesday, as two major owners of local ABC stations said that they still plan not to air the show.
Nexstar announced today that it is joining Sinclair in continuing their previous plans to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely. Together, the two companies own more than 23 percent of local TV stations that are affiliated with ABC’s national programming. Viewers relying on those stations will instead have to settle for local news.
Nexstar’s announcement comes a day after Disney, which owns ABC, said the late-night talk show would return on Tuesday. The show had been suspended last week following comments Kimmel made after the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Disney’s decision to temporarily pull the show, under pressure from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, set off a firestorm of its own and fueled a heated national debate over free speech.
Politicians, free-speech advocates, and Hollywood stars came to Kimmel’s defense in the days that followed. And a call to boycott Disney, including canceling Disney+ subscriptions, also went viral online, hitting Disney stock, prompting the House of Mouse on Monday to announce the show’s return.
However, that same day, Sinclair posted on X that it would be preempting the show while discussions with ABC continued.
Nexstar, for its part, said in a press release on Tuesday that it stood by its decision to pull the show, citing Kimmel’s “ill-timed and insensitive” comments.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo.
How to know if your local ABC station will air Jimmy Kimmy Live!
If your local ABC station is owned by Nexstar or Sinclair, you’ll miss out on Kimmel’s return.
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