Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group are ending their preemption of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Both station ownership companies said Friday the late night program will return to their airwaves immediately. The station groups pulled Kimmel off the air Sept. 17 following a backlash over the host’s comments related to the killing of right-wing activist Charile Kirk. The decisions by the two ...

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to Sinclair and Nexstar stations on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025.

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Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group are ending their preemption of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Both station ownership companies said Friday the late night program will return to their airwaves immediately. The station groups pulled Kimmel off the air Sept. 17 following a backlash over the host’s comments related to the killing of right-wing activist Charile Kirk.

The decisions by the two station owners are a welcome development for ABC’s parent, Walt Disney Co. The Burbank, California, entertainment giant had faced searing criticism and protests over ABC’s decision to yank the comedian off the air.

Kimmel was withdrawn by Sinclair and Nexstar the same day Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr took aim at the host’s Sept. 15 monologue, in which Kimmel said MAGA Republicans were using Kirk’s death to “score political points” and were trying to categorize shooting suspect Tyler Robinson as “anything other than one of them.”

Neither Nexstar or Sinclair cited a specific reason for returning the program, which has not aired on its stations since Sept. 17. But in the days since Kimmel returned to his late night perch on Tuesday, he has scored a massive number of views on YouTube while attracting strong TV ratings despite the preemptions.

Sinclair had initially demanded that the host make a personal apology to the family of Kirk and a significant contribution to his organization Turning Point USA before returning “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to its ABC stations.

A person briefed on the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said no such concessions were made to get the program back on the air. ABC had no comment on the decisions by Sinclair and Nextar.

Both TV station groups — which combined have ABC affiliates covering 23% of the U.S. — had ample incentive to change course as they faced possible consequences for the prolonged preemption.

Affiliation agreements commit stations to carrying a TV network’s entire lineup of programming. And dropping programs can put an affiliate contract at risk, allowing ABC to move its lineup to another outlet.

The moves by both Nexstar and Sinclair to remove Kimmel’s program have largely been seen as a response to Carr, who as FCC chairman holds to key to increasing the number of TV stations a company can own. Nexstar has a $6.2 billion deal to acquire Tegna’s TV stations which will need FCC approval.

Appearing on a podcast last week, Carr called Kimmel’s remarks “the sickest conduct possible” and called for ABC to act. He threatened to go after TV stations’ licenses if it failed to do so.

ABC pulled the program from the network, but returned it to the air on Tuesday.

Kimmel’s first episode back scored 6.26 million viewers — a record for its regular 11:35 p.m. ET time slot — and his opening monologue was watched by more than 26 million people on YouTube and social media.