It turns out there’s a whole lot more to the story behind ABC deciding to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show than just a vague monologue remark.
As the saying goes, “Follow the money.”
In a podcast interview on Wednesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr suggested broadcasters pull or preempt “garbage” content to avoid the “possibility of fines or license revocations from the FCC.”
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney (which owns ABC),” Carr said on the far-right Benny Johnson podcast. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Note – Donald Trump has had it in for Jimmy Kimmel, a prominent critic, for a very long time. After CBS cancelled fellow Trump critic Stephen Colbert earlier this year, the Donald has repeatedly said that Kimmel was “next.”
Shortly after that interview, Nexstar, one of the largest local broadcast station groups, announced it would preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its ABC affiliates.
When asked by THR, a source said that Jimmy Kimmel was not planning on apologizing for his comments regarding the Charlie Kirk assassination. He felt that what he said did not need an apology https://t.co/GHhhLVfKkD
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 17, 2025
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Nexstar, one of the biggest owners of local TV stations in the country — including 28 ABC affiliates — said it will preempt the series for the immediate future. Nexstar currently operates mostly in small or midsize markets, though they include the ABC stations in New Orleans and Salt Lake City.
The decision by Nexstar comes as the broadcast station is seeking FCC approval for its $6.2 billion mega deal to acquire Tegna, a deal that would make Nexstar by far the largest owner of local TV stations in the country.
The FCC would have to raise the 40 percent ownership cap in order to let the deal advance. It is not clear if Tegna will follow Nexstar’s decision. Tegna operates 13 ABC stations, including in Austin and Sacramento.
Carr cheered the move, and shortly after Nexstar’s announcement, ABC put the Kimmel show pulled the show “indefinitely.”
I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing.
Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community… https://t.co/Px5boYbqNR
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 17, 2025
You’ll recall this summer Carr’s FCC approved a major merger involving CBS’s owner, Paramount, but after CBS canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” ending a network franchise for over three decades after next May.
CBS said the cancellation was for financial reasons. But many in the media industry speculated that it was done to curry favor with the Trump administration while Paramount’s merger with Skydance was pending as Trump also hates Colbert.
It’s worth noting that back in 2022, Carr was all for political satire.
Even former President Barack Obama, who normally stays out of current political issues, chimed in on the current administration’s “new and dangerous” position on “cancel culture.”
After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025
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