A top Disney executive refused to say whether ABC would renew Jimmy Kimmel’s contract, making ominous remarks about the late-night comedian’s future.
“I’m not going to make that announcement here with you today,” Dana Walden, Disney’s president and chief creative officer, said Thursday at a Bloomberg conference when asked whether Kimmel would stay with the network.
The host signed a one-year extension in December of last year that keeps him behind the desk of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” throughout the 2026-27 season. He reportedly earns around $16 million per year.
“The truth is, it’s a very difficult time slot,” Walden said, using the television industry term for a block of the broadcast schedule.
“That’s not to say that Jimmy isn’t doing a phenomenal job and his ratings are up. But they are up compared to a smaller audience watching late night television.”
Walden’s comments came less than a month after Page Six reported that Kimmel’s show is set to end when his current contract expires in May 2027.
“His contract is not extended,” a source close to the matter told Page Six.
ABC pushed back at the time.
“(These) reports are inaccurate – any reports about the future of the series at this point are purely speculative,” an ABC Entertainment spokesperson said.
As she hid her remarks, Walden on Thursday highlighted the broader financial pressures facing the late-night business.
Kimmel has a sizable audience on YouTube and other social platforms, but Walden said those views generate only a fraction of the revenue that comes from traditional TV advertising.
“It’s not a lucrative opportunity for a very premium talk show,” she said.
“We’re trying to make sense of the business while honoring a deep partnership,” Walden added.
“I love Jimmy, we have a great friendship. He’s close to a number of people at Disney. We’re trying to figure this out and figure out what Jimmy wants, what’s the right thing to do and what’s the right thing for our company.”
The uncertainty comes despite higher ratings for Kimmel.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” averaged 2 million viewers during the 2025-26 season, up from 1.55 million the previous season, according to Nielsen figures cited by ABC, an increase of about 29%.
The show also averaged a 0.18 rating among adults 18–49, up from 0.14 a year earlier.
Disney said this was Kimmel’s largest total audience in eight seasons and his best performance in this key demographic in four seasons.
Page Six reported in September that cost cuts could factor into the show’s future, although quoted insiders said the decision to part ways with Kimmel would not be driven by his combative relationship with the Trump administration.
Kimmel has repeatedly found himself at the center of political controversies over the past year.
ABC has temporarily pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from the airwaves in September last year following remarks the host made about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which sparked an outcry and scrutiny from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.
ABC’s major affiliate owners, Nexstar and Sinclair, separately preempted the show, with Sinclair demanding that Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and make a personal donation to them and Turning Point USA, which Kirk co-founded.
Disney put Kimmel back on the air less than a week later, and affiliates resumed airing the show a few days later.
Kimmel drew further criticism in April after joking that first lady Melania Trump had “the glow of a future widow.”
President Trump and the first lady later called on ABC to fire him after a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, putting the joke in a darker context. ABC didn’t suspend him.
Most recently, Kimmel said an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was withheld from broadcast on ABC because of concerns about the FCC’s equal opportunity policy requirements.
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