Sinclair Broadcast Group, one of the country’s largest owners of local television stations, announced Friday it will end its preemption of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and will resume airing the popular late-night program on its ABC affiliate stations, effective Friday evening. The decision marks a significant reversal after a period of scrutiny and debate over the network’s programming choices, with Sinclair and fellow affiliate Nexstar, which also de-platformed Kimmel, finding themselves at the center of a nationwide freedom-of-speech debate.

Sinclair fired back at its critics, claiming its decision was “independent of any government interaction or influence,” and was, in fact, an exercise of free speech itself.

“Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the

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