ABC affiliates were notified late Wednesday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will be dark on the network until at least Thursday, with plans for the 11:35pm slot still undecided.
A memo sent to owners of more than 150 affiliate station partners on ABC tackled the explosive situation Wednesday afternoon. The Sinclair Broadcast Group also quickly confirmed plans to preempt Kimmel over the host’s remarks relating to the Magazine movement and activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead at a public speaking event held in Utah on September 10th.
In a note from the ABC Affiliate Board, a longtime group working with the network on behalf of station owners, ABC affiliates were informed that they will repeatedly program episodes of “celebrity family feud” in the 11:35pm time slot occupied by Kimmel on Wednesday and Thursday. Beyond that, “official guidance from Disney/ABC is approaching,” the memo says. The memo said the affiliate committee was “continuing to be involved in ABC.”
Sources close to the situation claim that the network has yet to make a formal decision on Kimmel’s show’s future. Executives spoke directly with the host and his representatives on Wednesday evening when the news broke, triggering mixed reactions from both sides.
The Nexstar and Sinclair movement are rare examples of broadcast television station owners who are bending a huge force against the media giants that own Big Four Networks. Affiliate stations across the country, especially those in large markets, were once very strong as they were important links to the distribution of networks across the country. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox paid affiliate stations to carry programming. However, from the late 1990s, television economics changed so dramatically that stations began paying networks “reverse comps” and helped them to cover the burden of expensive sports rights transactions, such as the NFL and the Olympics.
Today, the Big Four network all have numerous cable and streaming options to rely on for show distribution. But even in a social media-driven, 24/7 media environment, the local national composition of broadcast network television still has its advantages. Nexstar and Sinclair have undoubtedly seen Kimmel’s flap, which Kimmel’s flap began brewing on social media on Tuesday following Kimmel’s Monday night monologue remarks. The door was opened earlier in the day by Federal Communications Commission President Brendan Kerr. He threatened to launch another ABC investigation into what was deemed an offensive comment from Kimmel related to Kirk’s murder.
Meanwhile, defenders of freedom of speech have specifically denounced Carr’s statement as another disturbing example of the chairman wielding FCC regulators as a hammer to infringe President Donald Trump’s political and social enemies. Kimmel’s standoff is as the FCC is pushing hard to overhaul existing restrictions on television station ownership so that Nexstar can acquire rival station group Tegna. Last month, Nexstar announced its intention to buy Tegna in a $6 billion deal that will undoubtedly place Nexstar on its ownership limit line, unless the FCC revamps these rules. Broadcasters have long lobbyed to ease the various FCC ownership caps for local broadcast television and radio stations, claiming that it is anachronistic in the age of digital giants such as the FCC, Amazon and Google.
Rep. Robert Garcia, a ranking Democrat for the House Oversight Committee, said he would begin an investigation into the Trump administration, ABC and Sinclair.
“Every American has an obligation to stand up to our first revised value,” Garcia said. “We will not be silent because our freedom is threatened by corrupt schemes and threats. Anyone who is conspiring must answer us.”
The speed at which Kimmel’s show was compromised came as a shock to air many Hollywood people and TV veterans.
“Remember September 17th – that’s the day we lost our first revision in America,” said the broadcast television station executive with knowledge of ABC affiliate memos.
