Jimmy Kimmel Live! Will Not Immediately Return to Nexstar Stations as Company Conducts ‘Productive Discussions’ with Disney

Jimmy Kimmel Live!  will still not be airing on the 32 ABC-affiliated stations owned by Nexstar Media, as the company continues what it calls “productive discussions” with Disney executives following the late-night show’s return to ABC.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, Nexstar (the largest local TV broadcasting and media company in the U.S.) shared in a statement that it is “continuing to evaluate the status” of the program after not airing Kimmel on its stations amid the show’s Tuesday return to ABC. During that time, it will not be airing forthcoming episodes of Jimmy Kimmel’s program, which has been on air since 2003.

“Nexstar is continuing to evaluate the status of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on our ABC-affiliated local television stations, and the show will be preempted while we do so,” the statement read. 

“We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve.”

The update from Nexstar comes two days after Disney announced Kimmel’s return, and one day after both Nexstar and Sinclair revealed they would continue preempting the show in their respective local markets.

Before Kimmel’s suspension, Nexstar announced plans to acquire Tegna, a rival broadcast company, for more than $6 billion — a deal that would consolidate the local television landscape and put Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households. The acquisition requires final approval from the Donald Trump-controlled and Brendan Carr-run Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Still, Kimmel aired on other stations across the country on the night of Sept. 23, as its host shared a tearful monologue and addressed the show’s brief suspension.

ABC’s initial decision to pull the show, a move that sparked national attention toward the FCC and its chair, followed Kimmel’s Oct. 15 comments about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk. The right-wing commentator was killed at age 31 during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. During the initial monologue, Kimmel said that “the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize 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,” he added, before showing a clip of Trump being asked by a reporter how he was doing amid Kirk’s death. In response, Trump said “very good” before changing the subject to the construction of the new ballroom at the White House.

“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel joked.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.  

Directly after Kirk’s death, Kimmel also addressed what he called the “horrible and monstrous” killing of Kirk. “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote at the time. “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.”

Two days after the Sept. 15 episode — and after Carr voiced frustration with Kimmel’s comments and urged Disney to take action — Disney’s ABC announced the show would be on indefinite hiatus. Jimmy Kimmel Live! has since returned to ABC, with Disney sharing in a statement that the show would come back following “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy.”

“I never imagined I’d be in a situation like this — I barely paid attention in school. But one thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern is a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American,” Kimmel said during his latest monologue.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.