ABC says Jimmy Kimmel's show isn't ending, but the leaked details tell a very different story

ABC says the reports of Jimmy Kimmel's cancellation are "purely speculative." Page Six says a source told them his contract is not getting renewed. Somewhere between those two statements is what is actually going to happen.

Page Six reported this week that ABC has no plans to extend Jimmy Kimmel's contract past May 2027, which would make the current 24th season of Jimmy Kimmel Live his last. Kimmel has been signing one year deals with the Disney owned network rather than a longer term contract, which is exactly the kind of detail that makes a "not renewing" rumour sound plausible.

ABC Entertainment pushed back hard, telling reporters the report is inaccurate and that "any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative." That is a fairly standard denial, but it is worth remembering this show was temporarily pulled off air in September last year after backlash over a Charlie Kirk related monologue, with the FCC chair and criticism from President Trump both playing a public role in that saga. Kimmel returned, and signed his current one year extension not long after.

None of that means this new report is accurate. Networks deny plenty of stories that later turn out to be true, and they also kill plenty of stories that were never going anywhere. What it does mean is that Kimmel's position at ABC has clearly been under more pressure than usual for over a year now, contract extensions included.

US late night television has been shrinking for a while, squeezed by streaming competition and shrinking ad budgets on nearly every major network. Whether Kimmel's show is the next one to go remains genuinely unclear, but the fact that this rumour landed and stuck for a full news cycle says something about how fragile that whole format currently looks, regardless of how this particular contract plays out.