But most media analysts will tell you this began last December, when ABC settled a lawsuit brought against it by President Trump by paying $15 million to the president.
The concession was the first accommodation from a news media company to the Trump administration, and it set a precedent that would soon repeat itself several times over. Since then, Trump and his appointees have taken or provoked legal action against a handful of news outlets, including The Associated Press, News Corp., and The New York Times.
No matter what point you pin as the specific origin, though, the more important consideration is that this issue will in no way conclude if Kimmel returns to ABC’s affiliates. Instead, the ramifications of this particular episode will simply shape the outlines of the next one, whose contours are already coming into focus.
So, rather than focus on what resolution looks like in the short term, here are four questions I have as this saga unfolds.
When will Sinclair and Nexstar resume airing Jimmy Kimmel Live, if they ever do?
On Tuesday, a tactfully contrite Kimmel offered more than enough of an elegy for Sinclair and Nexstar to plausibly consider the issue resolved.
Still, as of Wednesday afternoon, neither affiliate network has given any indication that they plan to resume airing the show. Nexstar told ADWEEK in a statement that the company is “still evaluating” the show, which will be “preempted while we do so.”
The smart money would suggest that this issue is resolved shortly. It is exceedingly rare for affiliate stations to preempt content from their broadcasters, and they can only do so a limited number of times before they breach their contracts, according to media analyst Paul Farhi.
