ABC denies report that 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' will end in 2027, as late-night economics keep pressure on

ABC on Tuesday disputed a report that "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will end after its current season, pushing back within hours against an account that had spread quickly through the entertainment press. The dispute played out on the same day Kimmel opened his 24th season on the network, underscoring how unsettled his standing at ABC has become even as the show returns to air.

The report, first published by Page Six, said Kimmel's contract "is not getting extended" and that the show would conclude in 2027. An ABC spokesperson told TVLine that "this information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative," a denial the network repeated to several other outlets. Kimmel has offered a more equivocal account in recent interviews, saying he does not know what the network intends to do once his current agreement lapses.

The numbers behind the dispute

Whatever ABC ultimately decides, the financial backdrop is not in question. Combined linear advertising spending on late-night programming across ABC, CBS and NBC fell from about $439 million in 2018 to roughly $221 million by 2024, according to ad-spend tracking cited widely in trade reporting — a decline of nearly half in six years. Nielsen figures compiled by trade outlets show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" losing the bulk of its audience over the same stretch, with its share of the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 demographic falling from roughly 0.68 in the 2013-14 season to about 0.16 a decade later.

Kimmel's show is not an outlier. CBS cited a roughly 40 percent drop in advertising revenue since 2018, and annual losses estimated near $40 million, when it announced in 2025 that "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" would end in May 2026. NBC's "Tonight Show" has seen its own ad revenue decline by roughly 35 percent between 2022 and 2024. Disney's own annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission lists late night as one of the programming "dayparts" carried by the ABC network, which reaches nearly all U.S. television households through roughly 245 affiliated stations and eight owned stations — the same distribution system whose cooperation the network needs to keep any show on air nationally.

How the show got here

Kimmel's contract has been unusually short-term for a marquee host. He signed only a one-year extension with Disney in December 2025 — not the customary three-year deal — keeping him at ABC through roughly May 2027. That truncated term followed a turbulent stretch months earlier: in September 2025, ABC pulled "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air indefinitely after Kimmel made remarks about the reaction to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The suspension turned into a wider dispute over broadcast regulation after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said on a conservative podcast that station owners could "do this the easy way or the hard way," suggesting the agency would pursue "news distortion" scrutiny of local ABC affiliates unless they acted. Nexstar Media Group, which owns 28 ABC affiliates, and Sinclair, which owns 38, both said they would preempt the show; Disney suspended it network-wide soon after. Carr was later called before the Senate Commerce Committee, where, per Variety's account of the hearing, he maintained he had not threatened any station's broadcast license — a position he had also set out in a letter filed with his agency. Kimmel returned to air about a week after the suspension began, and Disney's decision two months later to extend him for only a single additional year came against that backdrop.

Who is affected

A firm end date for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" would affect the show's writers' room and production staff, and would leave ABC without a marquee 11:35 p.m. entry at a moment when CBS has already retired "The Late Show" outright. It would also close out a run that began in 2003, leaving Kimmel as one of the last hosts from broadcast late-night's earlier era still on the air, following Colbert, David Letterman and Craig Ferguson off the schedule in recent years.

The affiliate stations that carry the show — the roughly 245 ABC affiliates named in Disney's SEC filing, including the Nexstar and Sinclair groups that preempted it last year — would also be affected by any change, since their advertising sales and local programming schedules are built around the network's late-night slot.

Reaction

The unions that represent the show's writers and other creative staff weighed in once already on Kimmel's standing at ABC, during last year's suspension, and their statements have taken on new resonance amid this week's speculation. The Writers Guild of America said at the time, in a statement posted to its official press room, that it stood "united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent."

"Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world. The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers."

SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America and other unions issued similar statements at the time, according to Deadline's reporting, describing the suspension as part of a broader pattern of pressure on creative expression. Those statements addressed last year's suspension specifically; none of the guilds had issued a new statement on Kimmel's contract status as of Tuesday evening.

What happens next

Kimmel's current deal runs through roughly May 2027, giving both sides months before any decision becomes final. ABC has not disclosed a timeline for opening renewal talks, and network representatives continue to describe reporting on the show's future as speculative. Kimmel's season premiere this week featured guests including Andrew Garfield, Mariska Hargitay and Gal Gadot, drawing attention back to the show itself even as coverage of his contract status continued alongside it.

The broader financial pressure on network late-night programming is unlikely to ease regardless of what ABC decides about Kimmel specifically. With CBS's "Late Show" already gone and NBC and ABC both facing the same advertising and audience trends, industry analysts expect further consolidation or format changes across the remaining broadcast late-night lineup in coming seasons.