Welp. This doesn’t sound amazing…
Jimmy Kimmel has brought late night laughs to ABC audiences for over 23 years. He’s also found himself at the center of President Donald Trump‘s rants a few times…
Related: Watch Dakota Johnson Promote 3rd Hosting Gig On SNL
Earlier this month, a report started circulating claiming Jimmy Kimmel Live would be ending. The network quickly denied it, though, saying in a statement:
“This information is inaccurate. Any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”
Fast forward a few weeks, and now, on Thursday, Disney president Dana Walden spoke at Bloomberg’s Screentime. When the topic of Kimmel’s future came up, she said:
“It’s a very challenging daypart, late-night. That’s not to say that Jimmy is not doing a phenomenal job, and his ratings are up, but they’re up relative to a smaller audience that’s watching late night on broadcast television.”
So, basically, even though his ratings are up, late night network television in general has become less popular. But what about all his viral YouTube clips??
Related: Jelly Roll Explains His Politics To Jimmy Kimmel
She continued:
“Obviously, there’s a YouTube channel. Millions of people are watching, on demand, parts of that show. That is not a lucrative opportunity for a very premium talk show, so we’re trying to make sense of the business while also honoring a deep partnership.”
So is that it? Is this the end of the road for JKL?
“I love Jimmy. We have a great friendship. He’s close to a number of the people at Disney, and again, we’re trying to work through it and make sense of both. What does Jimmy want? What’s the right thing to do, and what’s the right thing for our business?”
Hmm…
What do you make of all that? Let us know in the comments!
[Image via YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel Live.]
-
Categories
