“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is back on the air Tuesday night after nearly a week’s suspension. But Vermonters won’t be able to catch the late-night show — live, anyway.
That’s because the local ABC affiliate, WVNY, is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which has said it will continue to preempt the show over comments Kimmel made last week about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve,” the media conglomerate said in a statement.
Seven Days contacted the local station, also known as ABC22 & FOX44, where someone in the programming department confirmed the show won’t be airing Tuesday night. They declined to comment further, referring all inquiries to Nexstar.
Kimmel was pulled off the air by ABC’s parent company, Disney, on September 17 because of “ill-timed” and “insensitive” comments he’d made on his show two days earlier.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend,” Kimmel said that night, “with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them — and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
The comments drew blowback from conservatives and caught the attention of Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, who insinuated ABC was violating its broadcasting license by allowing conduct that was not in the public interest. He suggested Kimmel be suspended, but not fired.
“These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” he told a conservative podcaster. Hours later, Disney suspended the late-night host indefinitely, prompting national debates over free speech.
In addition to Nexstar, Sinclair Broadcast Group has also decided against airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Together, the companies account for nearly a quarter of the ABC stations that reach American homes.
It’s unclear when Nexstar will allow “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back on its stations. But Carr, for one, applauded the company’s decision.
“Democrats just keep digging themselves a deeper & deeper hole on Kimmel,” he wrote on X. “They simply can’t stand that local TV stations — for the first time in years — stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming. We need to keep empowering local TV stations to serve their communities of license.”
