Jimmy Kimmel Live!: What time is it on, is it on all ABC channels, can you watch it in the UK, why was Jimmy Kimmel suspended?

The Walt Disney Company owns the ABC network, which makes the Jimmy Kimmel show and broadcasts it on its stations in the US.

The comments caused uproar in the US - but so did the suspension, bringing into question as it did the US’s proud adherence to the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees free speech.

The First Amendment says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Mr Kirk, who was a prominent political commentator in the US and ally of President Donald Trump, was shot dead at a Utah Valley University event on September 10. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged and could face the death penalty if convicted of killing Mr Kirk.

What time is Jimmy Kimmel Live! on tonight?

The show will return to its regular slot which is 11.35pm Eastern time and 10.35pm central time. In the UK that is 4.35am on Wednesday.

Can I watch Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the UK?

Even online, ABC is only available within the US and its territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands. It is not accessible in the UK.

If you try to watch ABC from in the UK, geo-restrictions will kick in and you are likely to be shown the message: “You appear to be outside the United States or its territories. Due to international rights agreements, we only offer this video to viewers located within the United States and its territories.”

Will Jimmy Kimmel Live! be on all ABC stations?

No - Jimmy Kimmel Live! will not return to Sinclair's ABC affiliates. Sinclair - which owns or controls 39 ABC-affiliated stations across the country - says it is replacing the show with news broadcasts while continuing talks with the network, having previously pledged not to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! until the host agreed to "issue a direct apology to the Kirk family" and to make a "meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA," Kirk's organisation which advocates for conservative politics on high school, college and university campuses.

The company said in a statement: “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be pre-empting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return."

Sinclair vice chairman Jason Smith said: "Mr Kimmel's remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country. We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities.”

What did Disney say about the U-turn on Jimmy Kimmel Live?

Walt Disney Company said in a statement: "Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.

"We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."

What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

Kimmel was initially suspended after he suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Kirk at a university in Utah, was aligned to the Make America Great Again movement.

He said in an opening monologue: "We hit some new lows over the weekend with the Maga gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving."

Before the show aired, Jimmy offered his condolences to Kirk's family. The TV star wrote on social media at the time: "Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence."

Kimmel’s contract with The Walt Disney-owned network had been set to expire in May 2026.

Who had protested about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension?

More than 430 film, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union, describing the matter as “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation”.

Big names including Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck and Tom Hanks joined the protest, and it was also signed by British stars including Florence Pugh and Alan Cumming.

“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter said. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation.”

Former president Barack Obama had also suggested the issue was “precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent”.

And the Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Sag-Aftra) issued a statement saying: “The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.”

Who is Brendan Carr and why is he relevant to the Jimmy Kimmel suspension?

Brendan Carr is the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in America, a regulator which is similar in outline to the UK’s Ofcom. He was appointed as an FCC commissioner during Donald Trump’s first term as president, and this time round was his nominee for chairman and was appointed in January.

A staunch Republican, he has strongly criticised the language used by Kimmel. The FCC has been accused of engineering Kimmel’s suspension and applying pressure to media companies but Carr has denied that, blaming Democrats for creating that narrative.

“The reality is, there’s a lot of Democrats out there that are engaged in a campaign of projection and distortion,” he has said. “And distortion is they’re completely misrepresenting the work of the FCC and what we’ve been doing.”

What was going on behind the scenes?

Nexstar - the network had originally refused to show the now-unsuspended Jimmy Kimmel, is at the moment trying to buy Tegna, the US’s fourth largest broadcaster, for $6.2m.

This would give Nexstar a reach into 80 per cent of television-owning households in the US, and the deal would need to be examined by the FCC. Some said that Nexstar’s decision to pull the Kimmel show was politically motivated to curry favour - but at the moment it appears that Nexstar channels will be showing tonight’s show.

At the time of the suspension Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said: "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."

What has Donald Trump said?

US President Donald Trump has suggested that if any TV networks only give him bad press “maybe their licence should be taken away”.