Kimmel’s return to ABC will be dark on dozens of stations, with ‘tension’ on display

Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group’s decision highlights the influence and sometimes-tenuous relationship local TV station owners have with national broadcasters such as Disney-owned ABC.

Kimmel was briefly suspended over comments he made in the aftermath of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Here are key facts about the two companies, which collectively own about a quarter of ABC affiliates, including in some bigger cities like Washington, D.C.

Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, based in Irving, Texas, operates 28 ABC affiliates. It said Tuesday that it stands by last week’s decision to preempt the show, “pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”

It added “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, and Nexstar’s stations will focus on “continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”

Nexstar owns ABC-affiliated stations in cities including Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans; Salt Lake City and smaller markets including Evansville, Indiana; and Binghamton, N.Y., among others.

In all, the company owns or partners with more than 200 stations in 116 U.S. markets, and owns broadcast networks the CW and NewsNation, as well as the political website The Hill and nearly a third of the Food Network.

It hopes to get even bigger. Last month, it announced a $6.2 billion deal to buy TEGNA Inc., which owns 64 other TV stations.

The deal would require the Federal Communications Commission to change rules limiting the number of stations a single company can own. The FCC’s chair, Brendan Carr, has expressed openness to changing the rule.

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Sinclair Broadcast Group, based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, operates 38 local ABC affiliates. The company, which has a reputation for a conservative viewpoint in its broadcasts, said in a post Tuesday on X that it will be preempting the show and replacing it with news programming.

“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” the company said in the statement.

Sinclair owns, operates or provides services to 178 TV stations in 81 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks and owns the Tennis Channel. Its ABC affiliates include stations in Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., Chattanooga, Tennessee, and other cities.

Affiliates and national broadcasters depend on each other

While local TV affiliates broadcast their own programming, such as local news, they also contract with national broadcasters and pay them to air their national programming, splitting advertising revenue and fees from cable companies.

For example, if there are 16 minutes of advertising during an hour of commercial time, typically about 12 minutes go to the national broadcaster and 4 minutes go to the local station owner, said Matthew Dolgin, a senior analyst at research firm Morningstar who covers the technology, media, and telecom sectors.

While affiliates get 100% of ad revenue from local programming, national TV shows during prime time typically get much better ratings, thus higher advertising dollars.

“The areas where these stations own ABC affiliates, they’re a smaller market. They probably don’t get really big Kimmel viewership,” he said. “So for them, they don’t lose maybe quite as much. … It’s easier for them to take a stand on Jimmy Kimmel than it would be for a lot of the other national programs I think they really rely on, including, for example, Monday Night Football,” Dolgin added.

Controversies

Sinclair made headlines in 2018 when a video that stitched together dozens of news anchors for Sinclair-owned local stations reading identical statements decrying “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing the country” went viral. Sinclair didn’t disclose that it ordered the anchors to read the statement.

Nexstar operates similarly.

Danilo Yanich, professor of public policy at the University of Delaware, said the company is the “biggest duplicator” of news content today His research showed Nexstar stations duplicated broadcasts more than other affiliate owners.

Affiliate influence

Lauren Herold, an editor of the forthcoming book “Local TV,” said the web of companies involved in getting Americans their television shows is “relatively unknown” to most viewers, though their influence has been made known for decades.

Often, Herold said, that’s been when local affiliates have balked at airing something they viewed as controversial, such as the episode of the 1990s comedy “Ellen” in which Ellen DeGeneres’ character came out as gay.

“It’s not a complete oddity,” Herold said. “I think what’s more alarming about this particular incident to me is the top-down nature of it.”

Whereas past flare-ups between affiliates and their parent networks have often involved individual local TV executives, Herold pointed to the powerful voices at play in Kimmel’s suspension: Disney CEO Bob Iger, the FCC’s chair Carr, as well as Sinclair and Nexstar.

“The FCC kind of pinpointing particular programs to cancel is concerning to people who advocate for television to be a forum for free discussion and debate,” Herold said.

Jasmine Bloemhof, a media strategist who has worked with local stations, including ones owned by Sinclair and Nexstar, said consolidation has given such companies “enormous influence.” Controversies like the latest involving Kimmel, she said, “reveal the tension between Hollywood-driven programming and the values of everyday Americans.”

“Networks may push one agenda, but affiliates owned by companies like Sinclair and Nexstar understand they serve conservative-leaning communities across the country,” Bloemhof said. “And that friction is bound to surface.”

But Dolgin said he believes the balance of power might lie with ABC over the affiliates. While Disney does rely on local TV affiliate relationships to get viewership, ad revenue, and revenue from cable companies, the ABC broadcast network makes up a “very small percentage of (Disney’s) revenue,” Dolgin said.

“And they’ve got alternative ways with their streaming services, with their cable networks to reach consumers otherwise,” he said. “So to me, that puts them a little bit in the driver’s seat in this relationship.”