Disney President Makes Ominous Comments About Jimmy Kimmel's Future
Disney president and chief creative officer Dana Walden declined Thursday to say whether Jimmy Kimmel will stay at ABC past his current deal, and spent the rest of her answer on how hard late night has become as a business.
Speaking at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference, Walden was asked if the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be sticking around.
“I’m not going to make that announcement here with you today,” she said, joking that she was leaving the news to someone else on the panel.
Kimmel signed a one-year extension in December 2025 that keeps him on the show through the 2026-27 season. Walden did not say the contract would be renewed, and she did not say it would be dropped.
“The truth is, it’s a very challenging daypart,” Walden continued. “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.”
She added that the show’s YouTube and social clips do not replace the old advertising model. “That is not a lucrative opportunity for a very premium talk show,” she said.
Digital views, she added, bring in a fraction of what on-air ads do.
Walden then put the decision in personal terms without closing it.
“We’re trying to make sense of the business while also honoring a deep partnership,” she said. “I love Jimmy; we have great friendship. He’s close to a number of the people at Disney. We’re trying to work through it and make sense of, what does Jimmy want, what’s the right thing to do, and what’s the right thing for our business.”
The comments landed after weeks of conflicting reports. A recent Page Six story said Kimmel’s contract would not be renewed. ABC denied that account and called talk of the show’s future speculative.
Other reports said the network was looking for significant budget cuts if the show is to continue.
The Western Journal reported in September that Disney had pressed for a smaller budget.
Walden did not mention a dollar figure or a cancellation date on Thursday. She also did not treat a renewal as automatic.
The public position from Disney’s top creative executive is that ratings are up inside a shrinking late-night audience, online viewing does not pay like television, and the company is still sorting what Kimmel wants against what the business can support.
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