Jimmy Kimmel returns to ABC tonight. Over 1 million households in Pa. won’t be able to watch.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" will return to TV Tuesday night, but won't air in Harrisburg, Erie, and much of central Pennsylvania.
Jimmy Kimmel will return to ABC Tuesday night after pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration forced him off the air.
Disney, ABC’s parent company, said in a statement Kimmel was suspended and Jimmy Kimmel Live was taken off the air “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”
Kimmel had been targeted by conservatives over comments he made about slain right-wing activist Charlie Kirk during a monologue last week, remarks Disney called “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
“We hit some new lows over the weekend 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,” Kimmel said.
Following a threat from Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, two companies that own a number of ABC-affiliated stations — Nexstar and Sinclair — announced they were preempting Kimmel’s show with local programming, forcing Disney’s hand.
Since being taken off the air, Kimmel met with executives trying to find a path for his return. His suspension sparked protests outside Disney’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., criticism from both Democrats and Republicans over government overreach, and mass cancellations of Disney+, the company’s subscription streaming service.
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” Disney said.
Not everyone in Pennsylvania will be able to watch Kimmel’s return
The return of Jimmy Kimmel Live will air in the Philadelphia TV market on 6abc at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. But not everyone in Pennsylvania will be able to tune in.
Sinclair, which owns and operates 31 ABC stations across the country, said in a statement it would replace Kimmel’s show with news programming. The company previously said it wouldn’t bring back Kimmel’s show unless the host issued an apology and donated to Kirk’s conservative organization, Turning Point USA.
“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair said in a statement.
As a result, ABC 23 (WATM) in Altoona, which also serves the Johnstown and State College TV market, won’t be airing Kimmel’s return Tuesday.
ABC23 is owned by Palm Television, but is operated by Sinclair under a time brokerage agreement. As of now, ABC23 has nothing listed in its program schedule for 11:30 p.m., and station management did not respond to a request for comment.
Nexstar — which owns 29 ABC stations, including WHTM-TV in Harrisburg and WJET-TV in Erie — will also preempt Kimmel’s return, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Nexstar needs approval from the Trump administration to complete a $6.2 billion merger with Tenga, which itself owns 13 ABC stations.
Nexstar said it would consider bringing back Kimmel’s show if it received assurance “all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
The two companies’ ABC-affiliated statements reach more than 1.1 million households in Pennsylvania, half of the commonwealth’s TV markets, according to Nielsen data.
Sinclair’s ABC stations reach 13% of the country, while Nexstar’s reach 8.6%, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Flint.
Here is a list of the ABC-affiliated stations in Pennsylvania, and who owns them (there are no ABC stations that solely serve the New Jersey or Delaware markets):