Disney’s Dana Walden on Jimmy Kimmel’s Late Night Future: “It’s Challenging”

Dana Walden joked at the beginning of her Bloomberg Screentime session Thursday that her job was to “keep this seat warm for Casey Bloys, who’s bringing the real news.”

Disney’s president and chief creative officer stuck to that promise when asked about the future of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Kimmel signed a one-year contract extension in December 2025 to keep hosting the late night show through the 2026-27 season, and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw asked Walden if the host would be sticking around.

“I’m not going to make that announcement here with you today,” Walden said. “Again, I’m letting Casey make the news.” (Bloys, the head of HBO and HBO Max, is the presumptive front-runner to head up streaming at the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery when that megamerger closes in the coming days.)

Speculation about Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘s future has swirled since an early September Page Six story claimed Kimmel’s contract wouldn’t be renewed. ABC quickly denied that was the case, but other reports said the network is looking for significant budget cuts to keep the show going.

“The truth is, it’s a very challenging daypart,” Walden said Thursday at the Bloomberg event. “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.”

Kimmel and the show also have a big presence on YouTube and social media platforms, but those views and clicks bring in a fraction of the revenue that on-air advertising does. “That is not a lucrative opportunity for a very premium talk show,” said Walden.

“We’re trying to make sense of the business while also honoring a deep partnership,” she continued. “I love Jimmy; we have great friendship. He’s close to a number of the people at Disney. We’re trying to work through it and make sense of, what does Jimmy want, what’s the right thing to do, and what’s the right thing for our business.”