Jimmy Kimmel’s future at ABC is facing fresh uncertainty after a top Disney executive declined to say whether the longtime late-night host will still have his show next year.
Dana Walden, president and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Company, addressed Kimmel’s future Thursday during Bloomberg’s Screentime conference in Los Angeles.
Bloomberg managing editor Lucas Shaw noted that Kimmel had appeared at the conference the previous year before asking Walden directly whether he would still be hosting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” a year from now.
“I’m certainly not going to make that announcement with you here today,” Walden responded.
Her answer immediately added more uncertainty surrounding Kimmel’s status at ABC.
Kimmel’s current contract is set to run through May 2027 after the network signed him to a one-year extension in December 2025.
That relatively short extension attracted attention because Kimmel had previously signed longer agreements with ABC.
Pressed on why renewing Kimmel would not be an obvious decision given his improved ratings, Walden pointed to the difficult economics surrounding late-night television.
“The truth is, it’s a very challenging daypart, late-night,” Walden said.
She also acknowledged that Kimmel’s ratings have improved.
“That’s not to say that Jimmy is not doing a phenomenal job and his ratings are up,” Walden said.
But she added that the increase is happening within a shrinking overall television audience.
“They’re up relative to a smaller audience that’s watching late-night on broadcast television,” she said.
Kimmel has hosted “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” since the program debuted in January 2003.
That makes him one of the longest-serving hosts currently working in network late-night television.
His ratings have recently moved in a positive direction.
According to ABC figures cited in the report, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” averaged approximately 2 million viewers during the 2025-26 television season.
That represented the show’s largest overall audience in eight years.
The program also averaged a 0.18 rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.
That made it the highest-rated late-night program in that demographic during the season.
Kimmel also started the 2026-27 season strongly.
His show averaged 2.29 million viewers during premiere week and ranked first among late-night programs in both total viewers and the key 18-to-49 demographic.
Despite those numbers, Walden said the broader decline of traditional late-night television remains a serious concern.
Kimmel’s online clips regularly attract large audiences, but Walden indicated that digital views do not necessarily generate enough revenue to support the cost of producing a major network talk show.
“Millions of people are watching on demand the parts of that show,” Walden said.
“That is not a lucrative opportunity for a very premium talk show.”
Disney is now trying to determine whether continuing the program makes financial sense while also considering its lengthy relationship with Kimmel.
“We’re trying to make sense of the business while also honoring a deep partnership,” Walden said.
She also spoke warmly about Kimmel personally.
“I love Jimmy,” Walden said. “We have a great friendship. He’s close to a number of the people at Disney.”
Walden said Disney is considering three central issues: what Kimmel wants, what is right for him and what makes sense for the company.
Her comments come after conflicting reports about the future of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Page Six reported in September that Kimmel’s current season would be his last and that his contract would not be renewed.
ABC quickly disputed that report.
“This information is inaccurate,” a network spokesperson said, adding that reports about the show’s future were “purely speculative.”
Other reporting has suggested the two sides may still be discussing a possible extension.
TheWrap reported that ABC and Kimmel had entered talks about how the program could continue beyond the 2026-27 season.
ABC declined to comment on those reported negotiations.
The uncertainty surrounding Kimmel comes as the broader late-night television industry undergoes significant changes.
CBS ended “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earlier this year despite strong ratings, citing financial considerations, per the Conservative Brief.
Kimmel later acknowledged that Colbert’s departure made him think about his own future in late-night television.
His relationship with ABC has also faced turbulence.
The network temporarily suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in September 2025 following controversy surrounding Kimmel’s comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel returned less than a week later, and ABC affiliates that had stopped carrying the show eventually resumed airing it.
For now, Kimmel remains under contract through May 2027.
But Walden’s refusal to commit publicly to his future makes clear that Disney has not yet announced what comes next for one of television’s longest-running late-night hosts.
