Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback to late-night TV on Tuesday following a weeklong hiatus will be blacked out of dozens of markets after Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its ABC affiliates will not air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — replacing it with “news programming” instead.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” the company posted on X on Monday.
“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
The decision affects dozens of ABC affiliates in key markets, including WJLA in Washington, DC; KOMO in Seattle; KDNL in St. Louis; KATU in Portland, Ore.; and WHAM in Rochester, NY.
Other key affiliates affected include in WSYX in Columbus, Ohio; WBMA in Birmingham, Ala.; and KATV in Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Ark.
Sinclair controls more than 180 stations nationwide — 41 of them affiliated with Disney-owned ABC, making it the largest owner of ABC affiliates.
Kimmel, who earns $15 million annually, was set to return after Disney suspended him last week over his remarks tying conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s accused killer to the “MAGA gang.”
His absence sparked protests outside ABC television stations as well as calls to boycott parent company Disney.
Disney said it pulled the host “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” calling his remarks “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
Kimmel is expected to address the controversy in Tuesday’s monologue but stop short of an apology.
Sinclair previously demanded Kimmel issue a direct apology to the Kirk family and donate to Turning Point USA, the conservative group co-founded by Kirk.
Without that, the company said it would keep the show off-air.
Vice chairman Jason Smith said last week that Kimmel’s remarks were “inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country.”
The standoff comes as Sinclair faces pressure from regulators and advertisers.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner blasted the suspension as yielding to “out-of-control intimidation” from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who warned Disney it could face regulatory consequences if it failed to act.
Nexstar, which operates 32 ABC affiliates, has not yet decided whether to follow Sinclair. Together, the two companies represent nearly a quarter of ABC’s household reach, raising the possibility of large swaths of the country being shut out from Kimmel’s broadcast.
The Post has sought comment from Sinclair and Nexstar.
ABC affiliates owned by Sinclair:
- KTXS — Abilene–Sweetwater, Texas (ABC, CW)
- KVII — Amarillo, Texas (ABC, CW)
- KVIH — Amarillo, Texas (ABC, CW)
- WABM — Birmingham, Ala. (MyTV, ABC)
- WBMA — Birmingham, Ala. (ABC)
- WDBB — Birmingham, Ala. (CW, ABC)
- WICD — Champaign–Springfield–Decatur, Ill. (ABC)
- WICS — Champaign–Springfield–Decatur, Ill. (ABC)
- WCHS — Charleston–Huntington, WV (ABC, FOX)
- WCIV — Charleston, SC (MyTV, ABC)
- WTVC — Chattanooga, Tenn. (ABC, FOX)
- WSYX — Columbus, Ohio (ABC, MyTV, FOX)
- WKEF — Dayton, Ohio (ABC, FOX, MyTV)
- KAEF — Eureka, Calif. (ABC)
- WPDE — Florence–Myrtle Beach, SC (ABC, CW)
- WXLV — Greensboro–High Point–Winston-Salem, NC (ABC)
- WLOS — Greenville–Spartanburg, SC / Asheville, NC / Anderson, SC (ABC, MyTV)
- WCTI — Greenville–New Bern–Washington, NC (ABC)
- KHGI — Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney, Neb. (ABC, FOX)
- KHGI-CD — Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney, Neb. (ABC)
- KWNB — Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney, Neb. (ABC, FOX)
- KWNB-LD — Lincoln–Hastings–Kearney, Neb. (ABC, FOX)
- KATV — Little Rock–Pine Bluff, Ark. (ABC)
- WGXA — Macon, Ga. (FOX, ABC)
- WEAR — Mobile, Ala. / Pensacola, FL (ABC)
- KTVO — Ottumwa, Iowa / Kirksville, MO (ABC, CBS)
- KATU — Portland, Ore. (ABC)
- KHQA — Quincy, IL / Hannibal, Mo. / Keokuk, IA (CBS, ABC)
- WSET — Roanoke–Lynchburg, Va. (ABC)
- WHAM — Rochester, NY (ABC, CW)
- KTXE-LD — San Angelo, Texas (ABC)
- KOMO — Seattle–Tacoma, Wash. (ABC)
- KDNL — St. Louis, Mo. (ABC)
- WGTQ — Traverse City–Cadillac, Mich. (ABC, NBC)
- WGTU — Traverse City–Cadillac, Mich. (ABC, NBC)
- WPBN — Traverse City–Cadillac, Mich. (NBC, ABC)
- WTOM — Traverse City–Cadillac, Mich. (NBC, ABC)
- KTUL — Tulsa, Okla. (ABC)
- WJLA — Washington, DC (ABC)
