WPRI’s Parent Company Nexstar Led the Effort to Remove Kimmel’s Show
GoLocalProv News Team
WPRI’s Parent Company Nexstar Led the Effort to Remove Kimmel’s Show
President Donald Trump has been a critic of Kimmel and has repeatedly called for ABC to remove him. On Wednesday, Trump got his wish.
Nexstar issued a statement on Wednesday that "the company’s owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show. Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division. “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
Nexstar has a major deal before the Federal Communications Commission.
In August, Nexstar announced a proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna Inc. to create the largest local media company in the United States, pending regulatory and shareholder approval. The merger would add Tegna's 64 TV stations to Nexstar's existing portfolio of 200+ stations.
GoLocal reached out to WPRI’s general manager, Patrick Wholey — he did not respond to request for comment.
Nexstar GOP Ties
Nexstar's corporate PAC contributions have leaned toward Republicans. In the 2023–2024 election cycle, the PAC directed about 54.7% of its contributions to Republicans and 45.3% to Democrats.
As GoLocal unveiled in 2018, Nexstar has been pumping donations into Republican campaigns for years.
Recently, Nexstar’s CEO, Perry Sook, has praised the Trump administration’s deregulatory approach. “The initiatives being pursued by the Trump administration offer local broadcasters the opportunity to expand reach, level the playing field, and compete more effectively with the Big Tech and legacy Big Media companies that have unchecked reach and vast financial resources,” as quoted in the Independent in August of 2025.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, “[FCC] Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel during an interview with conservative political podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday and suggested the regulatory agency could take action against the broadcast licenses of ABC-owned stations. Owners of some ABC TV stations, including large broadcaster Nexstar , told the network they were dropping the show.”
ABC, owned by Disney, late on Wednesday announced the Kimmel show would be placed on hiatus after the Nexstar announcement.
Trump posted to social media on the news of Kimmel's show going on hiatus:
Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT
Besides WPRI, Nexstar owns FOX Providence (WNAC-TV), The CW Providence, and myRITV in the Rhode Island market.
Sinclair Broadcasting Corporation, the owner of WJAR-10 and soon to operate ABC6, joined Nexstar later on Wednesday evening, calling for Kimmel's removal.