Jason Bailey, Guest Columnist

Kimmel’s YouTube Win Should Rattle Traditional Broadcasters

The host’s monologue from Tuesday night has racked up more than 20 million views on the platform, leaving ABC affiliates in the dust.

September 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM UTC

By Jason Bailey

Jason Bailey is a film critic and historian. He is the author, most recently, of "Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend."

This face that millions want to see.
Photographer: Randy Holmes/Getty Images

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When Walt Disney Co. announced it would end the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, after several days of protest, subscription cancellations and boycotts, defenders of the First Amendment (on all points of the political spectrum) rejoiced.

That victory came with an asterisk, however, after Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group doubled down on their decisions to preempt the show across the roughly 70 ABC affiliate stations they own between them — nearly a quarter of the network’s reach.