Nexstar and Sinclair Continue to Preempt Kimmel's Return

“Democrats want to blame anything other than Disney and their local TV stations for Kimmel’s suspension,” Carr said Tuesday in a post on X. “Those businesses decided that, in their view, a suspension made sense.” Sinclair, Nexstar and ABC each announced that they were suspending the show within hours of Carr’s appearance on a podcast, where he said a lack of action against Kimmel could lead to FCC proceedings that target the companies.

“We made a decision last week to preempt 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse,” Nexstar said Tuesday in a release. Kimmel had criticized the reaction from Make America Great Again supporters to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve,” Nexstar added.

Sinclair said Monday that it would preempt Kimmel's show but that it was in discussions with ABC about the show returning. Disney -- ABC’s parent company -- didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Nexstar pointed out Tuesday that Kimmel’s show “will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”

Sinclair previously said that Kimmel should apologize and donate funds to Turning Point USA, the conservative organization that Kirk founded. Kimmel will reportedly address the controversy around his comments in his monologue Tuesday but isn't planning to apologize, according to the New York Post.

Center for American Rights CEO Daniel Suhr, who has filed multiple complaints at the FCC against ABC and Kimmel’s show, criticized Disney for the manner of the host's return. Nexstar and Sinclair “might feel differently if Kimmel/ABC would show some more remorse and respect for the millions of Americans who find Charlie Kirk’s murder is no laughing matter,” Surh wrote on X.

Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America, called the decision to keep preempting Kimmel “shameful behavior from Nexstar, which is trying to curry favor with a biased FCC.”

“Local TV stations -- not the national programmers -- have public interest obligations," wrote Carr on X. "They should be making decisions that in their view meets [sic] the needs of their local communities.” Nexstar, which is based in Irving, Texas, controls over 200 stations in 116 markets. Sinclair, based in Baltimore, controls 185 stations in 85 markets.

'A Stain on the FCC'

“No, this wasn't simply a ‘business decision,’” said FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in her own post on X Monday. “This regrettable chapter is a stain on the FCC. It was a concerning moment of direct government intervention into business decisions.”

Carr again rejected accusations that he overstepped the First Amendment, calling them “projection” by Democrats. They're “the ones that spent years illegally weaponizing government to silence dissent,” Carr wrote, pointing to a post Tuesday by California State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) calling for a breakup of Sinclair. “And it is Democrats that will do it all again -- as they are openly telling you today.” Wiener responded by calling Carr -- who has served at the FCC for 12 years under multiple administrations -- “Trump’s unqualified hack FCC Chairman” in another post.

“Policymakers should not threaten regulatory reprisals based on the content of broadcasts,” wrote the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation’s Joe Kane.

Boston College Law School professor Daniel Lyons addressed the legal ramifications in a post on X. “One more time for the cheap seats: government cannot threaten legal action in order to coerce private speakers. Brendan Carr can't coerce ABC affiliates, and neither can Scott Wiener,” he said.

“This is one reason it should be the work of conservatives to foreclose the ability to censor through ‘independent’ agencies,” said Zach Lilly, NetChoice's deputy director of state and federal affairs, in another post on X. “Your ideological foes are falling over themselves to do it to you. The other reason, less compelling of course, is that censorship is morally wrong.”

Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Monday that Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, “probably got it right” when he chastised Carr’s ABC comments. “You don’t have to like what somebody says on TV to agree that the government shouldn’t be getting involved here,” McConnell said.

Cruz said last week that the situation was “right out of Goodfellas. That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar, going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It'd be a shame if something happened to it’” (see 2509190059).

The National Religious Broadcasters called on the FCC to uphold the First Amendment in a release Tuesday. “When one voice is suppressed, all voices are at risk. If viewpoint-based suppression can be directed at mainstream broadcasters today, it could be directed at faith-based broadcasters tomorrow,” said CEO Troy Miller.

“Imbalance alone should never serve as grounds for silencing a broadcaster,” said Michael Farris, the group's general counsel. “If that were the standard, Christian radio and television would be at risk, as they rightly take strong positions without providing equal time to opposing viewpoints.”