ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' gets midnight slot

[January 21, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show is getting a slightly earlier start, courtesy of a five-minute sacrifice by "Nightline."

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will move to midnight starting Feb. 4, ABC said Thursday. That will cut "Nightline," which had been airing from 11:35 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. EST, to 25 minutes instead of a half-hour.

The news program, however, will gain a series of 13 prime-time specials, ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in a staff memo that was released by ABC. He said the specials would "minimize the disruption" to "Nightline."

ABC also intends to trim the commercial time within "Nightline" to preserve the program's content, a spokeswoman said.

[Associated Press]

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