{"id":45261,"date":"2025-09-26T22:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/45261\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T22:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:53:08","slug":"kimmels-show-back-on-sinclairs-abc-affiliated-stations-ending-blackout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/45261\/","title":{"rendered":"Kimmel’s show back on Sinclair’s ABC-affiliated stations, ending blackout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sinclair Broadcast Group is bringing Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night show back to its ABC affiliate stations on Saturday, ending a days-long TV blackout<\/a> for dozens of cities across the US over remarks the comedian made in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,\u201d Sinclair said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honouring our obligations to air national network programming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Disney-owned ABC suspended Kimmel<\/a> on September 17, following threats of potential repercussions from the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission. Nexstar, another affiliates group, had announced it would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! before ABC\u2019s decision, and Sinclair also condemned the host. <\/p>\n

The Maryland-based broadcast giant, which is known for conservative political content, called on Kimmel to apologise<\/a> to Kirk\u2019s family \u2014 and taking it a step further, asked him to \u201cmake a meaningful personal donation\u201d to Turning Point USA, the nonprofit that Kirk founded.<\/p>\n

And even after Disney brought Kimmel back to its national airways on Tuesday, both Sinclair and Nexstar continued to preempt the show.<\/p>\n

In the statement, Sinclair referenced \u201cthoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives\u201d, as well as \u201ctroubling acts of violence\u201d like a shooting into the lobby of a Sacramento station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

As a result of Sinclair and Nexstar’s boycott<\/a>, viewers in cities like Washington, DC, and Seattle had been left without the late-night program on local TV. The blackouts escalated nationwide uproar around First Amendment protections \u2014 particularly as President Donald Trump\u2019s administration and other conservatives police speech after Kirk\u2019s killing, and also cast a spotlight on political influence in the media landscape, with critics lambasting companies that they accuse of censoring content.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur decision to preempt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence,\u201d Sinclair’s statement read, adding that broadcasters had the right to exercise their own judgment. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we understand that not everyone will agree with our decision about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nexstar did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

While local TV affiliates broadcast their own programming, such as local news, they also contract with larger national broadcasters \u2014 and pay them to air their national content, splitting advertising revenue and fees from cable companies.<\/p>\n

Sinclair said \u201cconstructive\u201d discussions with ABC were ongoing, and said its proposals to the network to strengthen accountability, feedback and dialogue and appoint an ombudsman had not yet been adopted. An email seeking comment from representatives for ABC was not immediately answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinclair Broadcast Group is bringing Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late-night show back to its ABC affiliate stations on Saturday, ending…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,64,69,417,437],"class_list":["post-45261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north-america","tag-nz","tag-television","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}