WGA STRIKE COVERAGE: ABC Suspends Jimmy Kimmel Live Staffers

Sources: Kimmel to Pay Staffers, Following O’Brien, Letterman, Leno

By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 12/4/2007 2:37:00 PM

After four weeks of repeats due to the Writers Guild of America strike, ABC finally suspended the staff of its late-night franchise, Jimmy Kimmel Live, a network source confirmed Tuesday.

And much like his better-paid late-night counterparts -- Conan O’Brien, David Letterman (through his production company) and Jay Leno -- Kimmel is stepping up and assuming the salaries of many of his staffers, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

NBC laid off its late-night show staffs as of Friday. O’Brien decided last week to pay his staffers himself, and then Leno decided to follow suit. Last Call with Carson Daly, however, went back into production.

Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, which owns both Late Show with David Letterman and Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, already announced that it would pay nonwriting staffers percentages of their salaries based on how much money they made.

For full coverage of the strike, click here.