September 18, 2025 • 19 mins
Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show has been pulled off the air "for the foreseeable future" after the host made comments about political reactions to the killing of Charlie Kirk. The move by Disney, which owns ABC, came after a major TV station owner said it would drop the show, and the head of the U.S. communications regulator threatened regulatory action.
Today we're unpacking what Kimmel said, why it's caused such a major response, and what this means for media regulation in the U.S.
Hosts: Sam Koslowski and Emma Gillespie
Producer: Orla Maher
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Already, and this is the Daily This is the Daily
ohs oh, now it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Friday,
the nineteenth of September. I'm Sam Kazlowski.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Jimmy Kimmel's late night show has been pulled off the
air for the foreseeable future after the host made comments
about political reactions to the killing of Charlie Kirk. The
move by Disney, which owns ABC, came after a major
TV station owner said it would drop the show and
the head of the US Communications regulator threatened regulatory action. Today,
(00:43):
we're going to unpack what Kimmel said on air, why
it's caused such a major response, and what this all
means for media regulation in the US.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Sam, I'm so excited to dive into this topic today.
It's been a really big couple of months for this
late night space, for the kind of politics of comedy
and US television programming. So much to chat through. But
before we get into this latest controversy, can you give
us a quick rundown on Jimmy Kimmel. He's not the
(01:16):
only Jimmy, so I think it would be helpful to
help our audience understand a little more about him.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
He's been around for a long time.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
He absolutely has. He has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live, his
show on ABC since two thousand and three.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
ABC America, of course.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, yeah, and so he's in his twenty second year
of hosting that show. Wow in the world of comedy,
but in almost any gig that is a long time Yeah,
you're right, there's more than one Jimmy. There's Jimmy Fallon.
He hosts The Tonight Show, and together with Stephen Colbert,
Seth Meyers, John Olivar, there's a bit of a gang
of late night talk show hosts in the US. Now.
(01:53):
One important bit of context before we dive into Kimmel's
show on Monday Night is that generally a late night
show has two parts to it. It's got an opening monologue,
which is when the host stands up in front of
the audience and kind of gives their take on the
day of news and current affairs.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
It's a bit like a stand up set meets pop
culture and.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
News exactly, and sometimes it does take a serious tone,
especially if there's serious things to talk about. The rest
of the shows normally celebrity interviews and a bit of comedy.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, which I think is interesting context because obviously these
shows are so tied into the fabric of US TV culture,
but of course here in Australia we don't really have
anything like them.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
What exactly did Jimmy Kimmel.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Say this week that's caused this massive response?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
So he gets up on Monday night so it would
have aired Tuesday, middle of the day here in Australia,
and Jimmy Kimmel commented on the killing of Charlie Kirk
and the political reactions to it. He said, this, we hit.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Some new lows over the weekend with the Maga gang
desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Gary Kirk
is anything other than one of them, and everything they
can to score political points from it.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
He also mocked President Trump's response to Kirk's death, particularly
Trump discussing White House ballroom construction. When asked about it,
Kimmel said, this is not how an adult grieves the
murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how
a four year old mourns a goldfish.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now Charlie Kirk, of course, who is the US conservative
political activist who was shot dead at that speaking event
at a Utah university last week.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
To Kimmel's comments, though, a.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Key part of understanding the political response and the fallout
around it is the way in which political ideology, the
left versus the right, and particularly the suspects political ideology
has become a point of focus.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah. So this suspect, twenty two year old Tyler Robinson,
he was arrested after turning himself into authorities, and we've
learned a bit more about his motivation and what proscues
are alleging led to him allegedly assassinating Charlie Kirk. He
has some text messages to his roommates saying I had
enough of his hatred referring to Kirk. Some hate can't
(04:12):
be negotiated out, and of course prosecutors are seeking the
death penalty in this case. Now, Utah's governor said Robinson
had quote leftist ideology, and we've heard similar comments from
President Trump, Vice President J. D. Vance, and almost every
other major figure in the Trump White House about how
(04:32):
the political action that they need to deliver in response
to Kirk's killing is going to look like a crackdown
on what they categorized as extremist left wing groups and
inflammatory left wing language, and that was the approach that
Kimmel was then criticizing on his show.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, So Kimmel's comments weren't necessarily about celebrating Charlie Kirk's death.
He was more pointing to a political conversation, the approach
that the Trump administration is taking and criticizing that as
potentially unfair or censorship.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Exactly. It's really important, actually, and to highlight what you
just said, it wasn't really about the act of Charlie
Kirk being killed itself at all. It was about what's
happening now.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Okay, And I think it's probably an understatement to say
that this assassination and the social media narrative post Charlie
Kirk's death has become such a hotly debated issue in
the US.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
We know people are losing their jobs over social media comments.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Even here in Australia South Australia police are investigating someone
for their comments. So that's helpful context to understand, you know,
why this is so charged.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
But sam My question I.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Suppose about Jimmy Kimmel specifically, is that late night hosts
criticized politicians all the time. It's part and parcel of
the job. These guys are professional comedians and broadcasters. They
engage in satirical conversations and skits all the time. So
what made this different?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Well, I think to really answer that, we need to
look to the FCC. So the FCC, that's the Federal
Communications Commission.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
This is like the US communications watchdog.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, kind of. It's got a different structure and a
different role in the US than a communications watchdog. Here.
The FCC is the government agency that actually regulates television
and radio, not just from the content, but also from
the hardware. So you know, to own a signal, whether
it be a TV signal or a radio signal in
the US, the FCC grants you a license. Oh okay,
(06:34):
So almost think about it as like those television towers
are public assets and the FCC lends them out to
TV networks.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And so the chair of that body is a guy
called Brendan Carr, who is a really close ally of
President Trump. He was installed by Trump. He was on
a podcast on Wednesday, and in that podcast he was
asked about Kimmel's comments on his show, and he said
that Kimmel's comments were some of the sickest conduct possible.
(07:03):
But more importantly, he made what sounded like direct threats
against the networks themselves. Right, So he said it was
quote a very very serious issue right now for Disney,
which is the parent company of ABC, and that we
can do this the easy way or the hard way.
He told the networks they could quote find ways to
change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there's going
(07:24):
to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That is some very strong language to foreshadow what we
know unfolded. How much power does the FCC actually have though?
How significant are those remarks?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, again, it's about the ownership of those licenses, and
the FCC does have the power to suspend networks if
they believe they're not operating in quote the public interest.
That power hasn't been used by the FCC really in
its history. Definitely not against a mainstream broadcaster.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
The other thing that the FCC does and and definitely
put a mental pin in this, is the FCC is
the body that approves any mergers of media companies or
any sales of media companies. So those two powers are
really key to this story. And in the interview on
Wednesday on the podcast, Car delivered a message to broadcast
(08:18):
as he said, you have a license granted by us
at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation
to operate in the public interest.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
It's interesting to hear a regulator like this intervening or
speaking in that manner. You know, it's not as unusual
maybe for network bosses to have their say over what
goes on on their stations. But this kind of more
top line regulator, it's interesting and unusual, definitely different to
how things work here in Australia. But that then brings
(08:48):
us to the station's response. How did it interpret? You
know what Car had said.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So we've got the main character and the story from
a network perspective of ABC. They're owned by Disney. I'm
introducing now another character. This network is called Nextstar, and
next is the largest television station owner in the US.
It operates more than two hundred stations.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Two hundred Yeah, so seriously.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, Well, I mean a lot of these stations are
a state specific, so thirty two of their two hundred
ABC affiliated stations, So think like ABC New Mexico or
ABC Nevada and those stations will program a whole bunch
of local content, so you might have a morning television
show that's very locally relevant, and then they'll jump on
(09:36):
some of the content made by some of the biggest
names in the network, like Jimmy Kimmel, and program that
at peak hour times at night, for example. And so
they broadcast Jimmy Kimmel's show on thirty two of those
two hundred stations. Car delivers those threats on a podcast
Next immediately announces it would pull Kimmel's show immediately. The
(09:57):
company said the comments were quote offensive and insensitive and
do not reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values
of the local communities they serve, So.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
An immediate reaction to the FCC's comments.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah, and they release these comments in the form of
a very official corporate statement. And you know, they didn't
stop there. The head of the network said that continuing
to air Jimmy Kimmel's show is simply not in the
public interest at the current time, and that they needed
to suspend the show in order to let cooler heads prevail. Now,
remember what I said before about the FCC and the
(10:30):
mergers and sales powers. Yes, there is another element to
Next Star to know about, and that is that they
are waiting on FCC approval for a major business deal.
And that business deal is a merger with another one
of these absolutely enormous TV companies we've never heard of. Okay,
So when the FCC chair makes a threat on radio,
(10:52):
companies like Nexstar do get placed in a very, very
vulnerable position.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It's got a lot of the hallmarks of a very
simler late night show network merger host sacking.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
To show that we're going to get into.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
But I want to keep talking about Next Star while
this is all fresh in our minds.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
So this is a network that.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Distributes Kimmel's show. It suspends the broadcast of The Jimmy
Kimmel Show, and then the ABC decides to suspend the
show entirely.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
How do we go from it just pulling the show.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Off the air for one day versus like an actual,
bigger suspension.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Well, they're calling it an indefinite suspension, so we don't.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
So it's not canceled.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It's not canceled, but there's definitely no indication as to
when it is going to return, or at least not
at the time of recording. They've used a word in
the statement that the show has been preempted indefinitely, And
in broadcasting, preempted means a show is being pulled because
of something unforeseen. So let's say that there's a terror attack,
they might pull an episode of a sitcom and instead
(11:58):
put the news in its place. Ye, And that's the
term that they're using now to describe where the situation,
where Jimmy Kimmel is at. But there's definitely no line
in their statement, a very short seven words statement about
you know, it's taking a day off and it will
return next week.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And how did the FCC then react to that.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Suspension, Well, that FCC chair Brendan Carr, he took to
x formally Twitter, and he said, I want to thank
Next Star for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have
an obligation to serve the public interest. And you can
then pick up that he's using a phrase that's in
the charter of the FCC, and you can begin to
kind of put things together. He said, while this may
(12:40):
be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to
push back on Disney programming that they determine fall short
of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nextstar's lead.
Then we heard from the President, Donald Trump. He called
Kimmel's suspension quote great news for America, saying Kimi has
(13:00):
zero talents and worse ratings than even Colbert. That's Stephen Colbert,
if that's possible. Then he said that leaves Jimmy Fallon
and Seth Meyers two total losers on fake News NBC,
and he called on NBC to cancel both of those shows.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Okay, but we know that Donald Trump has a long
term loathing, I think for late night hosts, because these
are the comedians that do make fun of his policies
and have, especially in recent years, you know, made no
real effort to kind of conceal their distaste for Donald
Trump as a politician.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
What about Jimmy Kimmel himself. Have we heard from.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Him at the time of recording. We haven't. So we
haven't heard any more from ABC slash Disney on their
decision and what motivated that decision. And no, we haven't
heard from Kimmel or any representatives.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Okay, I'm sure we will see a pattern of you know,
celebrities and other late night hosts coming out in solidarity
with him, because we have a previous example to draw on.
That's how things unfolded when it was announced that Stephen
Colbert was being canceled. Talk to me about that show
and the relationship between late night TV hosts and American politics.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well, Stephen Colbert was on the air for ten years
with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. And
think about these timelines. I mean, we've got twenty three
years for Kimmel, We've got ten years for Colbert. These
are very well entrenched stars of late night television.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
On national free to air broadcast.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Very influential shows, especially now having found new audiences on
YouTube as well. That's something else to consider. So in July,
CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, just three
days after Colbert criticized a settlements reached by Paramount with Trump.
Paramount owns CBS. Trump was suing the network for airing
(14:52):
commentary about a civil case where Trump was found liable
for sexual abuse. CBS ended up settling that case with
Trump for sixteen million US dollars. Now, at the time
of Colbert's cancelation, CBS called it a purely financial decision,
and that's relating to the demise of late night television,
changing viewership numbers, advertisers not as attracted to the products,
(15:15):
and that's all true, but it is also worth noting
that Paramount is also currently awaiting FCC approval for its
own merger. That's with Skydance Media, and that's multi billion
dollar merger.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Yeah, we've heard a lot about that deal.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
It is incredibly financially valuable, and there was a lot
of criticism at the time about the relationship between that
merger and the decision about Colbert.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Colbert, who of course.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Won an Emmy this week, I think it's probably a
good time to play a little bit of a moment
from his speech which speaks to this kind of broader conversation.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something
when you get a sense that you might be losing it.
Ten years later, in September of twenty twenty five, my friends,
I have never loved my country desperately. God bless America,
Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to
bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
WHOA sam This might be a hard question to answer,
and I know there's a lot at play in the
current political climate. But is this the new normal for
US media?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Is this a new.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Kind of relationship between politics and television.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It's entirely new. I mean, we haven't seen the wave
of civil actions by the President of the United States
against major news outlets. I mean, think about even this week,
a fifteen billion dollar lawsuit launched by President Trump against
the New York Times. A couple of weeks ago, it
was an action against the Wall Street Journal and News Corp.
This is a staggering pace of civil action. It is
(16:53):
also unprecedented that we're seeing this type of language being
used against political commentary in the space. And that's a
big point here. I mean, the White House hosts an
event every year where they actually invite a comedian to
come and roast the President of the United States, the
White House Correspondence Dinner. So it's in built into the
(17:14):
kind of political psyche that comedians should be allowed to commentate,
and that this is changing quite quickly. The other thing
to note is the changing role of the FCC. So
the FCC, historically, the chair of the FCC isn't somebody
that we would hear from. It was a pretty boring job.
It was kind of to make sure that TV stations
(17:34):
covered all parts of the country, and that people weren't
getting ripped off with dial up internet all that kind
of thing. It wasn't a political position, but now it's
really become a political instrument. There's actually a new kind
of group that's formed of former FCC chairs and commissioners.
They put out a statement recently that warned that the
(17:56):
agency now risks functioning as quote, the White House personal censor.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, that word censor censorship has been thrown around a
lot in the last few months. But I don't think
this conversation is going away. And I'm sure we're going
to hear even more on this in the days and
weeks to come as we wait to hear and learn
more about.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Jimmy Kimmel's fate.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Definitely, and as we can see from Stephen Colbert and
his appearance at the Emmys, these stars tend to not
go quietly, so we'll see what happens next.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So so interesting.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Thank you for unpacking that for us today, Sam, Thanks Sam,
and thank you for listening to today's episode. That's all
for today's Deep Dive, but we will be back a
little later on with your afternoon news headlines. Until then,
have a good day.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Aarunda
Bungelung Kalkotin woman from Gadigl country. The Daily oz acknowledges
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torris
Strait Island nations. We pay our respects to the first
peoples of these countries, both past and present.
Already, and this is the Daily This is the Daily
ohs oh, now it makes sense.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Friday,
the nineteenth of September. I'm Sam Kazlowski.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
I'm Emma Gillespie.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Jimmy Kimmel's late night show has been pulled off the
air for the foreseeable future after the host made comments
about political reactions to the killing of Charlie Kirk. The
move by Disney, which owns ABC, came after a major
TV station owner said it would drop the show and
the head of the US Communications regulator threatened regulatory action. Today,
(00:43):
we're going to unpack what Kimmel said on air, why
it's caused such a major response, and what this all
means for media regulation in the US.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Sam, I'm so excited to dive into this topic today.
It's been a really big couple of months for this
late night space, for the kind of politics of comedy
and US television programming. So much to chat through. But
before we get into this latest controversy, can you give
us a quick rundown on Jimmy Kimmel. He's not the
(01:16):
only Jimmy, so I think it would be helpful to
help our audience understand a little more about him.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
He's been around for a long time.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
He absolutely has. He has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live, his
show on ABC since two thousand and three.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
ABC America, of course.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, yeah, and so he's in his twenty second year
of hosting that show. Wow in the world of comedy,
but in almost any gig that is a long time Yeah,
you're right, there's more than one Jimmy. There's Jimmy Fallon.
He hosts The Tonight Show, and together with Stephen Colbert,
Seth Meyers, John Olivar, there's a bit of a gang
of late night talk show hosts in the US. Now.
(01:53):
One important bit of context before we dive into Kimmel's
show on Monday Night is that generally a late night
show has two parts to it. It's got an opening monologue,
which is when the host stands up in front of
the audience and kind of gives their take on the
day of news and current affairs.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
It's a bit like a stand up set meets pop
culture and.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
News exactly, and sometimes it does take a serious tone,
especially if there's serious things to talk about. The rest
of the shows normally celebrity interviews and a bit of comedy.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, which I think is interesting context because obviously these
shows are so tied into the fabric of US TV culture,
but of course here in Australia we don't really have
anything like them.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
What exactly did Jimmy Kimmel.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Say this week that's caused this massive response?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
So he gets up on Monday night so it would
have aired Tuesday, middle of the day here in Australia,
and Jimmy Kimmel commented on the killing of Charlie Kirk
and the political reactions to it. He said, this, we hit.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Some new lows over the weekend with the Maga gang
desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Gary Kirk
is anything other than one of them, and everything they
can to score political points from it.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
He also mocked President Trump's response to Kirk's death, particularly
Trump discussing White House ballroom construction. When asked about it,
Kimmel said, this is not how an adult grieves the
murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how
a four year old mourns a goldfish.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Now Charlie Kirk, of course, who is the US conservative
political activist who was shot dead at that speaking event
at a Utah university last week.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
To Kimmel's comments, though, a.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Key part of understanding the political response and the fallout
around it is the way in which political ideology, the
left versus the right, and particularly the suspects political ideology
has become a point of focus.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah. So this suspect, twenty two year old Tyler Robinson,
he was arrested after turning himself into authorities, and we've
learned a bit more about his motivation and what proscues
are alleging led to him allegedly assassinating Charlie Kirk. He
has some text messages to his roommates saying I had
enough of his hatred referring to Kirk. Some hate can't
(04:12):
be negotiated out, and of course prosecutors are seeking the
death penalty in this case. Now, Utah's governor said Robinson
had quote leftist ideology, and we've heard similar comments from
President Trump, Vice President J. D. Vance, and almost every
other major figure in the Trump White House about how
(04:32):
the political action that they need to deliver in response
to Kirk's killing is going to look like a crackdown
on what they categorized as extremist left wing groups and
inflammatory left wing language, and that was the approach that
Kimmel was then criticizing on his show.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, So Kimmel's comments weren't necessarily about celebrating Charlie Kirk's death.
He was more pointing to a political conversation, the approach
that the Trump administration is taking and criticizing that as
potentially unfair or censorship.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Exactly. It's really important, actually, and to highlight what you
just said, it wasn't really about the act of Charlie
Kirk being killed itself at all. It was about what's
happening now.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Okay, And I think it's probably an understatement to say
that this assassination and the social media narrative post Charlie
Kirk's death has become such a hotly debated issue in
the US.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
We know people are losing their jobs over social media comments.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Even here in Australia South Australia police are investigating someone
for their comments. So that's helpful context to understand, you know,
why this is so charged.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
But sam My question I.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Suppose about Jimmy Kimmel specifically, is that late night hosts
criticized politicians all the time. It's part and parcel of
the job. These guys are professional comedians and broadcasters. They
engage in satirical conversations and skits all the time. So
what made this different?
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Well, I think to really answer that, we need to
look to the FCC. So the FCC, that's the Federal
Communications Commission.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
This is like the US communications watchdog.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Yeah, kind of. It's got a different structure and a
different role in the US than a communications watchdog. Here.
The FCC is the government agency that actually regulates television
and radio, not just from the content, but also from
the hardware. So you know, to own a signal, whether
it be a TV signal or a radio signal in
the US, the FCC grants you a license. Oh okay,
(06:34):
So almost think about it as like those television towers
are public assets and the FCC lends them out to
TV networks.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And so the chair of that body is a guy
called Brendan Carr, who is a really close ally of
President Trump. He was installed by Trump. He was on
a podcast on Wednesday, and in that podcast he was
asked about Kimmel's comments on his show, and he said
that Kimmel's comments were some of the sickest conduct possible.
(07:03):
But more importantly, he made what sounded like direct threats
against the networks themselves. Right, So he said it was
quote a very very serious issue right now for Disney,
which is the parent company of ABC, and that we
can do this the easy way or the hard way.
He told the networks they could quote find ways to
change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there's going
(07:24):
to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
That is some very strong language to foreshadow what we
know unfolded. How much power does the FCC actually have though?
How significant are those remarks?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Well, again, it's about the ownership of those licenses, and
the FCC does have the power to suspend networks if
they believe they're not operating in quote the public interest.
That power hasn't been used by the FCC really in
its history. Definitely not against a mainstream broadcaster.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
The other thing that the FCC does and and definitely
put a mental pin in this, is the FCC is
the body that approves any mergers of media companies or
any sales of media companies. So those two powers are
really key to this story. And in the interview on
Wednesday on the podcast, Car delivered a message to broadcast
(08:18):
as he said, you have a license granted by us
at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation
to operate in the public interest.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
It's interesting to hear a regulator like this intervening or
speaking in that manner. You know, it's not as unusual
maybe for network bosses to have their say over what
goes on on their stations. But this kind of more
top line regulator, it's interesting and unusual, definitely different to
how things work here in Australia. But that then brings
(08:48):
us to the station's response. How did it interpret? You
know what Car had said.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So we've got the main character and the story from
a network perspective of ABC. They're owned by Disney. I'm
introducing now another character. This network is called Nextstar, and
next is the largest television station owner in the US.
It operates more than two hundred stations.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Two hundred Yeah, so seriously.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah, Well, I mean a lot of these stations are
a state specific, so thirty two of their two hundred
ABC affiliated stations, So think like ABC New Mexico or
ABC Nevada and those stations will program a whole bunch
of local content, so you might have a morning television
show that's very locally relevant, and then they'll jump on
(09:36):
some of the content made by some of the biggest
names in the network, like Jimmy Kimmel, and program that
at peak hour times at night, for example. And so
they broadcast Jimmy Kimmel's show on thirty two of those
two hundred stations. Car delivers those threats on a podcast
Next immediately announces it would pull Kimmel's show immediately. The
(09:57):
company said the comments were quote offensive and insensitive and
do not reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values
of the local communities they serve, So.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
An immediate reaction to the FCC's comments.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Yeah, and they release these comments in the form of
a very official corporate statement. And you know, they didn't
stop there. The head of the network said that continuing
to air Jimmy Kimmel's show is simply not in the
public interest at the current time, and that they needed
to suspend the show in order to let cooler heads prevail. Now,
remember what I said before about the FCC and the
(10:30):
mergers and sales powers. Yes, there is another element to
Next Star to know about, and that is that they
are waiting on FCC approval for a major business deal.
And that business deal is a merger with another one
of these absolutely enormous TV companies we've never heard of. Okay,
So when the FCC chair makes a threat on radio,
(10:52):
companies like Nexstar do get placed in a very, very
vulnerable position.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It's got a lot of the hallmarks of a very
simler late night show network merger host sacking.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
To show that we're going to get into.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
But I want to keep talking about Next Star while
this is all fresh in our minds.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
So this is a network that.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Distributes Kimmel's show. It suspends the broadcast of The Jimmy
Kimmel Show, and then the ABC decides to suspend the
show entirely.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
How do we go from it just pulling the show.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Off the air for one day versus like an actual,
bigger suspension.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Well, they're calling it an indefinite suspension, so we don't.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
So it's not canceled.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
It's not canceled, but there's definitely no indication as to
when it is going to return, or at least not
at the time of recording. They've used a word in
the statement that the show has been preempted indefinitely, And
in broadcasting, preempted means a show is being pulled because
of something unforeseen. So let's say that there's a terror attack,
they might pull an episode of a sitcom and instead
(11:58):
put the news in its place. Ye, And that's the
term that they're using now to describe where the situation,
where Jimmy Kimmel is at. But there's definitely no line
in their statement, a very short seven words statement about
you know, it's taking a day off and it will
return next week.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
And how did the FCC then react to that.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Suspension, Well, that FCC chair Brendan Carr, he took to
x formally Twitter, and he said, I want to thank
Next Star for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have
an obligation to serve the public interest. And you can
then pick up that he's using a phrase that's in
the charter of the FCC, and you can begin to
kind of put things together. He said, while this may
(12:40):
be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to
push back on Disney programming that they determine fall short
of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nextstar's lead.
Then we heard from the President, Donald Trump. He called
Kimmel's suspension quote great news for America, saying Kimi has
(13:00):
zero talents and worse ratings than even Colbert. That's Stephen Colbert,
if that's possible. Then he said that leaves Jimmy Fallon
and Seth Meyers two total losers on fake News NBC,
and he called on NBC to cancel both of those shows.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Okay, but we know that Donald Trump has a long
term loathing, I think for late night hosts, because these
are the comedians that do make fun of his policies
and have, especially in recent years, you know, made no
real effort to kind of conceal their distaste for Donald
Trump as a politician.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
What about Jimmy Kimmel himself. Have we heard from.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Him at the time of recording. We haven't. So we
haven't heard any more from ABC slash Disney on their
decision and what motivated that decision. And no, we haven't
heard from Kimmel or any representatives.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Okay, I'm sure we will see a pattern of you know,
celebrities and other late night hosts coming out in solidarity
with him, because we have a previous example to draw on.
That's how things unfolded when it was announced that Stephen
Colbert was being canceled. Talk to me about that show
and the relationship between late night TV hosts and American politics.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Well, Stephen Colbert was on the air for ten years
with The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS. And
think about these timelines. I mean, we've got twenty three
years for Kimmel, We've got ten years for Colbert. These
are very well entrenched stars of late night television.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
On national free to air broadcast.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Very influential shows, especially now having found new audiences on
YouTube as well. That's something else to consider. So in July,
CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, just three
days after Colbert criticized a settlements reached by Paramount with Trump.
Paramount owns CBS. Trump was suing the network for airing
(14:52):
commentary about a civil case where Trump was found liable
for sexual abuse. CBS ended up settling that case with
Trump for sixteen million US dollars. Now, at the time
of Colbert's cancelation, CBS called it a purely financial decision,
and that's relating to the demise of late night television,
changing viewership numbers, advertisers not as attracted to the products,
(15:15):
and that's all true, but it is also worth noting
that Paramount is also currently awaiting FCC approval for its
own merger. That's with Skydance Media, and that's multi billion
dollar merger.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
Yeah, we've heard a lot about that deal.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
It is incredibly financially valuable, and there was a lot
of criticism at the time about the relationship between that
merger and the decision about Colbert.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Colbert, who of course.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Won an Emmy this week, I think it's probably a
good time to play a little bit of a moment
from his speech which speaks to this kind of broader conversation.
Speaker 5 (15:48):
Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something
when you get a sense that you might be losing it.
Ten years later, in September of twenty twenty five, my friends,
I have never loved my country desperately. God bless America,
Stay strong, be brave, and if the elevator tries to
bring you down, go crazy and punch a higher floor.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
WHOA sam This might be a hard question to answer,
and I know there's a lot at play in the
current political climate. But is this the new normal for
US media?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Is this a new.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Kind of relationship between politics and television.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It's entirely new. I mean, we haven't seen the wave
of civil actions by the President of the United States
against major news outlets. I mean, think about even this week,
a fifteen billion dollar lawsuit launched by President Trump against
the New York Times. A couple of weeks ago, it
was an action against the Wall Street Journal and News Corp.
This is a staggering pace of civil action. It is
(16:53):
also unprecedented that we're seeing this type of language being
used against political commentary in the space. And that's a
big point here. I mean, the White House hosts an
event every year where they actually invite a comedian to
come and roast the President of the United States, the
White House Correspondence Dinner. So it's in built into the
(17:14):
kind of political psyche that comedians should be allowed to commentate,
and that this is changing quite quickly. The other thing
to note is the changing role of the FCC. So
the FCC, historically, the chair of the FCC isn't somebody
that we would hear from. It was a pretty boring job.
It was kind of to make sure that TV stations
(17:34):
covered all parts of the country, and that people weren't
getting ripped off with dial up internet all that kind
of thing. It wasn't a political position, but now it's
really become a political instrument. There's actually a new kind
of group that's formed of former FCC chairs and commissioners.
They put out a statement recently that warned that the
(17:56):
agency now risks functioning as quote, the White House personal censor.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, that word censor censorship has been thrown around a
lot in the last few months. But I don't think
this conversation is going away. And I'm sure we're going
to hear even more on this in the days and
weeks to come as we wait to hear and learn
more about.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Jimmy Kimmel's fate.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Definitely, and as we can see from Stephen Colbert and
his appearance at the Emmys, these stars tend to not
go quietly, so we'll see what happens next.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So so interesting.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Thank you for unpacking that for us today, Sam, Thanks Sam,
and thank you for listening to today's episode. That's all
for today's Deep Dive, but we will be back a
little later on with your afternoon news headlines. Until then,
have a good day.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Aarunda
Bungelung Kalkotin woman from Gadigl country. The Daily oz acknowledges
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torris
Strait Island nations. We pay our respects to the first
peoples of these countries, both past and present.
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