Sinclair Ends ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Boycott, Says Its ABC Stations Will Resuming Airing Show Immediately

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/sinclair-resumes-jimmy-kimmel-live-abc-stations-1236530166/

32 comments

  1. They seem to enjoy punching themselves in the dick and then smugly asking how we feel about it.

  3. Hopefully, these organizations and Dem leaders will stop capitulating to these people. They’ll fold with enough pushback every time.

  5. They must’ve seen the ratings and remembered they love money above all else

  6. Because they can’t sell decent ads on the reruns of CK memorial.

  7. My boycott of Sinclair and Nexstar will remain. They are as un-American as it gets.

  8. Boy maga really made themselves all look stupid and weak on this one. Since kirk, they have only vilified themselves as anti free speech and made martyrs of left wing comedians and commentators. What a complete self own. lol

  10. Someone learned the hard way that today’s audience has no problem turning to youtube for their Kimmel fix. Broadcast television is on life support and better listen to the viewers.

  11. This speaks very much about how stupid people with the highest positions of power are.

  12. Money over Fundie.

    I guess the administration failed horribly to make a racist hateful podcaster a martyr.

  14. Now everyone knows who they are and not in a positive way.

  15. How many advertisers dropping did it take for this to happen?

  18. I wonder if ABC threatened to take away football from them. I remember seeing an article earlier this week where that was something they were considering doing.

  20. And of course they release it on a Friday afternoon to have as little attention as possible on them walking back with their tail between their legs

  21. Wouldn’t have anything to do with loss of revenue from that time slot showing reruns of the Waltons now would it?

  22. “Backfired Biggly” ,man I love Jimmy Kimmel.

  23. Gee, does if have something to do with him getting over 6 million views without them?

  24. Let me guess. Advertisers saw how much viewership they missed out on and told Sinclair that they’re gonna pull their ads and reallocate the funds to ads on ABC stations that show Kimmel.

  25. Did they finally figure out that they were basically forcing people to figure out how to stream/watch the show online? Which is the last thing the owners of a local affiliate want?

    It didn’t hurt Kimmel, it made him relevant and boosted his ratings

    It didn’t hurt ABC, their show got some of it highest ratings and that was accomplished (in Sinclair Media territories at least) via platforms that stream ad revenue directly back to ABC

    Way to go, dipshits!

  26. Wonder how much face Brendan Carr has left after that leopard went to town on him. What an idiot.

  27. Too late Sinclair (and Nexstar), your reputation has and will always be reflective of a dinosaur organization taking on unpopular opinions on an old medium no one even cares to watch.

    But now, people are just going to target your profits, sponsors and advertisers to accelerate your obsolescence even further. No one can wait to do this, as soon as possible.

  28. A k.a We started hearing from the shareholders. 

  29. Disney/ABC should give Nexstar an all or nothing ultimatum on airing their programming. Nexstar is not in the position of power. Disney holds the cards to crush them financially.

  31. ABC probably threatened to pull SEC (college football) games from Sinclair and/or said they’d switch the ABC game (Alabama-Georgia) (one of the most anticipated SEC games of the year) with ESPN’s game (UMass-Mizzou)

  32. The reason Sinclair suddenly backed off the Jimmy Kimmel blackout isn’t because they had a change of heart, it’s because the legal landscape just shifted under them. Disney’s shareholders’ lawyers have opened a probe into the executives who suspended *Jimmy Kimmel Live*. On the surface, that looks like it’s about holding Disney’s own people accountable, but in practice it sets up a discovery phase that could be devastating for Sinclair.

    Here’s why: if the probe escalates to trial, discovery means subpoenas. At that point, Sinclair and Nexstar could be forced to hand over every communication they had with Disney executives and with the FCC about Kimmel. That’s exactly the kind of paper trail that could show whether regulators and affiliates colluded to pressure Disney into silencing a late-night host. The “lawsuit against Disney execs” is really just the crowbar to pry open those records.

    And Sinclair knows it. Their CEO has already gone on record aligning the company with Trump’s message, and their track record of must-run conservative content makes them an obvious suspect for coordinating with regulators. If those emails or call logs see the light of day, Sinclair stops looking like an independent broadcaster and starts looking like a political actor conspiring with a federal agency. That could blow up into antitrust, RICO, or even constitutional claims worth tens of billions.

    The ball is already rolling and hopefully has enough momentum to keep rolling. By going all-in on the Kimmel boycott, Sinclair may have overplayed their hand. Now that shareholder lawyers are circling, their retreat looks less like an editorial decision and more like damage control in the face of subpoenas they definitely don’t want to see served.

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