Disney President and Chief Creative Officer Dana Walden says the company wants to continue its relationship with Jimmy Kimmel, but her latest comments reveal the increasingly difficult economics facing Jimmy Kimmel Live! as the longtime ABC host approaches the end of his current contract.
Speaking Thursday at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference, Walden was asked about Kimmel’s future at ABC and acknowledged that Disney is attempting to find a path forward.
“It’s a very challenging daypart, late-night,” Walden said, according to Variety.
Walden stressed that Kimmel’s ratings have improved, but immediately placed those gains into the context of an overall television audience that has become considerably smaller.
“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 said.
That distinction may be the most revealing part of Walden’s comments.
Kimmel’s Digital Audience Isn’t Solving the Problem
Walden also addressed one of the arguments frequently made in defense of modern late-night television: While traditional television audiences have declined, individual monologues and segments can attract millions of additional viewers online.
Kimmel certainly has a sizable digital footprint.
ABC reported in March that the Jimmy Kimmel Live! YouTube channel had already generated more than 281 million views during 2026, with Kimmel’s nightly monologues averaging more than 4.4 million views apiece. By June, ABC said the channel had surpassed half a billion views for the year.
But Walden acknowledged that those enormous digital numbers don’t necessarily translate into an equally enormous business.
Dana Walden via Variety YouTube
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“Obviously, there’s a YouTube channel. Millions of people are watching, on demand, parts of that show,” Walden said. “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.”
That’s a significant admission from one of Disney’s most powerful executives.
The problem isn’t necessarily whether people are watching Kimmel. The question is whether Disney can monetize those viewers sufficiently to justify producing an expensive nightly broadcast television program.
The economics of late-night television have become an industry-wide problem as viewers migrate away from linear television and toward streaming services and short-form digital clips. The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this year that declining advertising revenue and changing viewing habits have undermined a format that was once extremely profitable for the major networks.
Kimmel Is Winning a Shrinking Late-Night Market
Ironically, Kimmel enters these negotiations from a relatively strong ratings position compared to his remaining broadcast competition.
According to ABC, Jimmy Kimmel Live! averaged approximately 2 million viewers during the 2025-2026 television season, its largest overall audience in eight years. The program also averaged a 0.18 rating among adults 18-49 and ranked No. 1 in late-night television in that demographic.
Kimmel opened the new season with 2.29 million viewers during the week of September 21 and again ranked first among late-night programs in both total viewers and adults 18-49.
Jimmy Kimmel speaking with Stephen Colbert – YouTube, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
That makes Walden’s comments particularly noteworthy.
Kimmel doesn’t need to be losing to his competitors for ABC to question the economics of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Disney appears to be wrestling with whether being No. 1 in a substantially diminished television category is enough to justify the costs associated with producing the program. That’s something CBS was forced to confront earlier this year when it canceled The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Kimmel himself acknowledged the changing economics last year, arguing that late-night programs didn’t necessarily need to carry budgets approaching the reported $120 million level associated with his show.
Disney Still Hasn’t Locked Down Kimmel
Walden made clear that her relationship with Kimmel remains close.
“I love Jimmy. We have a great friendship. He’s close to a number of the people at Disney,” she said.
But her next comments stopped well short of announcing that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would continue.
“We’re trying to work through it and make sense of both,” Walden continued. “What does Jimmy want? What’s the right thing to do, and what’s the right thing for our business?”
Jimmy Kimmel shakes hands with Joe Biden – YouTube, Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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That leaves Kimmel’s future unresolved.
Page Six reported in September that Kimmel would leave late-night when his current contract expires in May 2027, ending what would be a 24-year run at ABC. The network publicly disputed that report.
“This information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative,” an ABC spokesperson said at the time.
Walden’s comments now provide considerably more context.
ABC may dispute claims that a decision has already been made, but Disney’s top television executive is openly acknowledging that the company is still trying to determine whether the economics of Jimmy Kimmel Live! make sense beyond the current deal.
Kimmel’s Future Comes After a Tumultuous Period
The contract discussions also arrive after an unusually turbulent period for Kimmel and ABC.
In 2025, ABC temporarily pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! following controversial remarks Kimmel made after the killing of Charlie Kirk. Nexstar Media announced that its stations would preempt the program, while FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly criticized Kimmel’s comments and suggested broadcasters could face regulatory scrutiny.
Kimmel eventually returned to ABC five days later.
The host has remained an outspoken critic of President Trump, while Trump has repeatedly criticized Kimmel and called for ABC to remove him from the air.
Jimmy Kimmel in his UK Christmas Address – UK Channel 4
Walden’s comments Thursday were focused primarily on the economics of late-night television and Disney’s relationship with Kimmel. Those economics could ultimately prove more consequential to Kimmel’s future than the political battles surrounding him.
Disney has a host whose program currently leads its traditional late-night competition and whose individual segments can attract millions more viewers online. Yet Walden is publicly acknowledging that those digital views are not sufficiently lucrative on their own for what she called a “very premium talk show.”
For Kimmel, that leaves the central question unanswered as his May 2027 contract expiration approaches: Can Disney and its longtime late-night host find a version of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that makes financial sense for both sides?
Do you think Dana Walden will let Jimmy Kimmel continue at ABC? Sound off and let us know!
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