The show will go on without them. They will be losing viewers playing reruns instead of new shows. Eventually viewers or advertisers will demand a change and they’ll give in.

So I see all this as mostly for show. Affiliates can only reject X number of hours before they are in breach of contract.

It’s conservative virtue signaling. That’s all.

and prohibit contracts that restrict the stations' from exercising those rights.

If they cave, it won't because of a breach of contract concern.

Or the fries, or the sauce, and they make you take down their menus, signs and logos, etc . .

See what I mean here?

Affiliates are allowed by contract to preempt a limited number of hours during certain times and days - but not as much as they want, whenever the want, forever. Depending on the contract, they can maybe ride it out for a while till their mouth-breathing zero-attention-span viewers move on to something else then just go back to showing JK with minimal fuss. This seems the most likely scenario, imo.

It's not an entirely unrestricted power, but damn close to one.

See post #20.

Are they paid by Disney to air things ?

Could even be conditions in the contract that Sinclair has to pay some base fee even if they skip an episode or five.

47 CFR 76.938(e) --Right to reject programs. No license shall be granted to a television broadcast station having any contract, arrangement, or understanding, express or implied, with a network organization which, with respect to programs offered or already contracted for pursuant to an affiliation contract, prevents or hinders the station from:

(1) Rejecting or refusing network programs which the station reasonably believes to be unsatisfactory or unsuitable or contrary to the public interest, or

(2) Substituting a program which, in the station's opinion, is of greater local or national importance.

While the first test would, imo, be hard for Sinclair to satisfy since it apparently is willing to air Kimmel if he makes an apology and gives a donation -- and therefore its decision isn't based on the content itself, the second test is so broad that I'm pretty sure that the FCC would rule in favor of Sinclair if it claims that the news content it is going to put on in place of Kimmel is "in the station's opinion" of greater local or national importance,

1) It's popular ... if delivered in an entertaining way and goes into things that dull boring late night Sinclair news broadcasts don't dare.

2) Do viewers really want hate-tinged Sinclair news late night before dropping off to sleep? Some (few?) will.

3) "Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return." They haven't closed the door but they are dragging their feet, maybe for concessions or a price of some kind.

4) They have the finger in the wind or up someone's orifice and they are sensing, measuring, assessing conditions including public reactions, investor reactions, legal advice, ratings, advertiser mutterings and the body temperature of orange people.

They really took Nixon's resignation hard.

Unless you live in those areas...so sorry. I’m just so happy he’s back AND on my local channel.

Because broadcast TV is practically dead. ABC knows that. Jimmy does numbers online, that's why they want him back.

F*ck sinclair.

I've been out of the business for a few years, but I assume this hasn't changed.

If a station with a network affiliation preempts one of the networks show, another TV station of no affiliation or even another network affiliation can pick up and run the preempted show.

So, if an ABC affiliate doesn't want to run Kimmel, a CBS station can. Or an independent station.

I was working for a TV station when this was about to happen. When SNL first came out (I know, ancient history) the NBC station I worked for didn't want to run it in the time slot it has always since had. They wanted to delay it until midnight and run the local spook show and get all that nice local revenue. One of the other stations in the market got wind of this and contacted NBC about running SNL in its correct time slot. Legally, they would have been able to do this. Needless to say, there were a lot of phone calls between the network and the suits at the station. SNL went on in the (after the news) time slot and the spook show got moved to midnight.

I'm just wondering how many indies might want to pick up Kimmel if Sinclair sticks to its idiotic demands.

Yes, if Sinclair preempts Kimmel, another DC market station arguably could seek to carry it. But here's the problem: media consolidation.
The other stations in the DC market are an NBC affiliate, owned by NBC, which already has Fallon on the Kimmel time slot and may not be interested in picking up Kimmel. A CBS affiliate, owned by Tegna, which is seeking to merge with Nexstar. A Fox affiliate, owned by Fox -- not going to be picking up Kimmel. And there are two "independent" -- non-network affiliated -- stations. One, channel 20, is owned by Fox. The other, channel 50, is owned by Nexstar.

So, not likely to find Kimmel on another DC broadcast station.

Consolidation. One day there will be 3 or 4 companies that will own all of the TV stations. Congress one little change at a time (repubs) have let this happen.

This morning its up to over 6 million streams. Good googly moogly. When people change they don't usually go back so those affiliates may find that they end up losing viewers when they realize that I don't have to watch. Oh, and what else can I stream. They may have opened a can of worms and pushed more people to stream.

That may change viewer habits. Once people realize that they can watch it in other ways, that may change their viewing habits, and not just for Kimmel. So they may end up losing viewers for other shows, thus losing advertising dollars for shows they never intended to lose.

here at my beloved DU....Thank You folks.

#SinclairOutOfSeattle
#SOS

I live in Dayton Ohio..... Help me understand my boycott steps with a local media corporation....

Still.... NO Jimmy Kimmel in Dayton, Ohio:
Yes, viewers in the Dayton, OH market would have been unable to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the night of Tuesday, September 23, 2025, because their local ABC affiliate, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, preempted the show. While ABC reinstated Kimmel's show, Sinclair and Nexstar Media Group, two large owners of ABC affiliates, decided to continue preempting it in their markets.
Details on the Preemption:

Why it's blocked:
Sinclair and Nexstar decided to preempt the show on their stations, including the one in the Dayton market, due to Kimmel's controversial comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Where to watch:
Despite the local preemption, viewers could still watch the show on YouTube ......and if you have yet to cancel this, watch on Disney-owned streaming products like Hulu.

What's replacing it:
Sinclair replaced the show with local news programming on its affiliate stations.

Eff 'em.

Ban won't last long.

Blackout the System