![\"Jimmy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jimmy-kimmel-critics-choice-awards.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\tJimmy Kimmel in the press room at the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards (Photo by Amy Sussman\/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> strongly believes that the late-night TV format has a lasting, if leaner, future.<\/p>\n The host of ABC\u2019s Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a> shared his extremely qualified opinion backstage at the Critics Choice Awards<\/a> Sunday night, where he and his fellow executive producers accepted the Best Talk Show honor<\/a>. <\/p>\n Kimmel said that while there \u201cwill always be late night talk shows,\u201d they make take on an altered form in the years to come.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some shows that are called \u2018late night talk shows\u2019 that aren\u2019t late night talk shows that still have the same format, and maybe we need a different term for them,\u201d Kimmel said backstage at the CCAs (per People.com<\/a>). \u201cBut it seems to me it\u2019s one of the cheapest forms of broadcasting, and it would be very surprising to me if it went away entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, \u201cMaybe it won\u2019t be as big, maybe there won\u2019t be a big band welcoming the host of the stage, maybe there won\u2019t be 15 writers, but I think there will be some version of late night talk show,\u201d Kimmel asserted. \u201cAnd in a way, maybe it\u2019ll be better because maybe there will be more opportunities for more people of various backgrounds and ages and niche programming that I think could be a lot of fun to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n Late-night TV of course spent much of 2025 with a target on its back. For starters, CBS announced that The Late Show would be going 100% off the air come May 2026\u2014a bombshell that dropped after host Stephen Colbert opined on-air that Paramount\u2019s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump, over a 60 Minutes edit, amounted to a \u201cbig, fat bribe<\/a>\u201d as the corporation awaited the FCC\u2019s blessing on a merger.<\/p>\n Months later, two major affiliate groups and then ABC as a whole briefly benched Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a> after a monologue intimated that right-wing activist Charle Kirk\u2019s killer was a MAGA disciple. That characterization drew fire from Nexstar and Sinclair, whom FCC chairman Brendan Carr nudged to take action.<\/p>\n President Trump in turn suggested that Kimmel\u2019s show should suffer the same fate as The Late Show; he also has targeted Seth Meyers of NBC\u2019s Late Night for airing commentary that\u2019s critical of today\u2019s White House.<\/p>\n