Sakshi Venkatraman And
Aleks Phillips
Getty imagesJimmy Kimmel Live! Will now return to the United States again, after two of the largest owners of local television posts in America said they would resume the program.
Sinclair and Nexstar – which have dozens of stations affiliated with the ABC national broadcaster – had removed the show of more than a week on comments that Kimmel made on the recent murder of the conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
The two announced that it would be restored Friday after ABC itself brought back the end of evening talk show following a brief suspension on its comments.
The decision shows that the power and influence of national networks and owners of local stations have mainly.
While networks are based on local stations broadcasting their programs for advertising revenues, local stations are counting on networks producing popular programs that will attract an audience.
Kimmel’s return saw his audience more than quadruple – despite about a quarter of the ABC stations which did not broadcast it while the Nexstar and Sinclair Ban continued.
Sinclair said he had decided to restore the talk show after “thoughtful comments from viewers, advertisers and community leaders”.
He wrote in a press release that his discussions with ABC and Disney parent company were “in progress and constructive”. The media conglomerate said that he had suggested measures to promote “responsibility” within Disney – although none of these elements have been adopted.
Nexstar also cited positive discussions with ABC, saying that it appreciated “the constructive approach to the network to respond to our concerns”. The company said it was “determined to protect the first amendment”.
Kimmel triggered the controversy by seeming to suggest to the person who fatally killed Kirk, 31, during a university event in the campus in UTAH earlier this month as a supporter of Donald Trump.
He said that the American president and his allies “desperately tried to characterize this child who murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them” and trying to “score political points”.
He also compared Trump’s reaction to the murder of the brands of conservative shooting at “How a four -year -old child cries a goldfish”.
Sinclair and Nexstar withdrew the series after the president of the distribution of American dissemination threatened to revoke the ABC license – encouraging the network to suspend Kimmel and to trigger a fierce debate on freedom of expression.
By lifting the ban, viewers of Sinclair and Nexstar in cities like Washington DC, Nashville, New Orleans and Seattle will now be able to watch Kimmel’s show again.
Kimmel returned to the air on Tuesday, expressing his regret about his previous remarks while hitting the Trump administration in a 28 -minute monologue.
“I never intended to shed light on the murder of a young man,” he said.
But he criticized the “anti-American” threats against freedom of expression, accusing the Trump administration of “Mob tactics”.
“Our chef celebrates people who lose their livelihoods because he cannot make a joke,” added the host of talk show.
Trump was openly disappointed with Kimmel’s reinstatement.
“I cannot believe that the false news ABC has given Jimmy Kimmel his work to Jimmy Kimmy,” he wrote in an article on social networks.
