Jimmy Kimmel Explains Why He Can’t Quit ABC Late-Night Series

Peter White
·2 min read
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The last time Jimmy Kimmel went on The Howard Stern Show, he caused commotion in the late-night community by suggesting that he might leave his long-running late-night show.

Last year, he told the radio host that he was “vacillating” over whether to sign a new deal.

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So it was apt that Kimmel, back in New York for a week of shows, returned to Stern after he signed a three-year extension to host Jimmy Kimmel Live! and to explain his decision.

He said that “being wanted is important” by the network – ABC chief Craig Erwich and ABC late-night boss Rob Mills both expressed such a desire to Deadline, at least. “ABC wanting me to stay. I didn’t know, maybe they wanted to start over, maybe the people running the network now want to find a person of their own for the next 20 years. Ultimately, I was having a hard time with the leaving part of it. The emotional toll that that takes. It was easier to worry about that in three years,” he said.

He added that coming out of radio and being regularly fired, meaning that he would have to move his young family across the country to cities such as Seattle, Palm Springs and Tucson, meant that he wanted to hold on to this job as long as he could.

“I was fired from most of my radio jobs,” Kimmel said. “I finally found a job where they liked me in L.A. at KROQ. I was really reluctant to leave even when The Man Show became popular. I think back to that, I never made more than $60,000 a year until I was three-years into my job at KROC.”

“The idea of quitting a job, I don’t know, I can’t imagine explaining that to my 25-year-old self,” he added.

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