pilgrimshadow said:
Siap, Ny Post has more background on the situation: https://nypost.com/2025/09/18/media/heres-the-real-reason-abc-suspended-jimmy-kimmel-live/
Nextar was quick to pull the show from it's local affiliates to try to curry favor with Carr as it needs FCC approval for its merger with Tegna. That would combine the two largest owners of local media outlets in the country with as many as 3-4 stations under one ownership in a viewing area. That's some serious sausage being made.
Kimmel's remarks were beyond out of bounds. They were outright, provable lies that alienate not only half the country, but probably a much larger percentage of the small markets in which most of the Nextar and Tegna holdings are located.
No one has mentioned that these local stations have as a larger percentage of their individual balance sheets local advertizing. Kimmel didn't tell a joke. He didn't approach the line. He didn't tiptoe on the line. He blasted through the line placing the blame for Charlie Kirk's murder on the very viewers and advertizers that make up a majority of Nextar's holdings.
So yes, the upcoming merger might have played a part in Nextar's decision. But Kimmel's hard partisanship on what is supposed to be a comedy/variety show has gotten more and more extreme - speaking only to the hardest of leftist followers. Local advertizers, still in shock and mourning over Charlie's assassination, would surely have pulled needed dollars from those local affiliates. Imo, THAT'S what got his show pulled.
So we can talk about free speech, the reasons why Kimmel's show was pulled, and government overreach.
But in the end, Kimmel showed us who he really is - an offensive, unfunny leftist who has been left behind by public opinion. His show has jumped the shark. But.... Ultimately, he'll be ok. He's got plenty of money and he has his family. And Charlie Kirk is still dead.
