FILE PHOTO: Jimmy Kimmel arrives at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, U.S., September 12, 2022. REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci/File Photo

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) -Two major broadcast owners said on Friday they will end preemption of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and the show will return in the evening on their 70 ABC-affiliated stations covering nearly a quarter of U.S. households.

Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group previously had declined to resume airing the show this week after Disney lifted a nearly week-long suspension.

Both had faced pressure from some lawmakers over the decision to not air the program. Sinclair's ABC stations represent about 14% of U.S. households and include the markets Washington, D.C.; Seattle; Little Rock, Arkansas; Portland, Oregon; St. Louis; Rochester, New York; and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nexstar Media Group had opted to keep Kimmel off the air on its 32 owned-and-operated ABC stations, which account for about 9% of U.S. households and include New Orleans; Nashville; Richmond, Virginia; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Nexstar needs FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.

PRESSURE FROM ALL CORNERS

ABC suspended Kimmel's show on September 17 over comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Hours before the suspension, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned that local broadcasters who aired Kimmel could face fines or loss of licenses and said "it's time for them to step up."

The decision by the companies of whether to resume broadcasting Kimmel's show has been the focus of a national debate between President Donald Trump and his supporters, who said the comedian should be taken off the air for comments that did not serve the public interest, and Kimmel supporters who said the government was muzzling free speech.

The Nexstar and Sinclair reversals followed Disney's decision to restore Kimmel to the airwaves after the ABC parent was hit with a torrent of criticism from across the political spectrum for caving to the White House.

Sinclair and Nexstar must also weigh financial issues tied to their relationship with the government, which approves pending and potential acquisitions, and possible financial contract penalties if they did not restore network programming.

Disney faced pressure from Hollywood creators and talent who vowed not to work with the company, and a public campaign for people to cancel their Disney+ streaming service.

It is unclear what prompted Friday's Nexstar and Sinclair decisions just days after Kimmel came back to late night TV, though it is notable that Sinclair's previous demands, including donations to Kirk-founded Turning Point USA and apologies to his family, were unmet.

"Nexstar remains committed to protecting the First Amendment while producing and airing local and national news that is fact-based and unbiased," the company said on Friday. "Our commitment to those principles has guided our decisions throughout this process, independent of any external influence from government agencies or individuals."

Disney and Carr did not comment on Sinclair or Nexstar's decision.

Typically, local broadcasters' agreements with networks for affiliation allow for some ability to preempt programming, but they could face penalties or potential renegotiation of their underlying contract for an indefinite suspension.

SINCLAIR PROPOSALS TO ABC

Sinclair said it had proposed measures to ABC to strengthen accountability, viewer feedback, and community dialogue, including a network-wide independent ombudsman, but added ABC and Disney have not yet adopted these measures.

A person familiar with the matter said Disney made no editorial or content concessions for the show's return.

As part of a deal approved by the FCC in July, Skydance agreed to have an ombudsman in place for at least two years to evaluate complaints about bias in CBS News programming as part of its acquisition of Paramount.

A number of Republicans have criticized the FCC's pressure on broadcasters.

"This isn't an area that I think the FCC ought to be wandering into," Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN this week.

Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell had urged Sinclair to return Kimmel to the air in Seattle on its KOMO-TV affiliate serving 5 million households given his popularity in the market, while Senator Bernie Sanders had urged Nexstar to return the program to Vermont viewers.

Kimmel, who usually broadcasts from Los Angeles, is taking "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to Brooklyn, New York, for a week of shows starting on Monday.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot)