The indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t just about the late-night host’s offensive remarks following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It was about billions of dollars in business.
According to telecom insiders, Kimmel’s comments not only enraged conservatives but also jeopardized Nexstar’s $6.2 billion takeover of rival broadcaster Tegna, a deal currently under review by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The merger, already controversial, needs approval from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a conservative lawyer who has been warning broadcasters that he’s taking one of the most expansionary views of the agency’s “public interest” mandate, First Amendment concerns aside.
With Nexstar owning more than 30 ABC affiliates and set to gain even more reach if the Tegna deal closes, executives feared Kimmel’s words could derail the entire transaction.
“Clearly Nexstar is sucking up to Carr,” one telecom lawyer told On The Money. “Kimmel’s comments are noxious but in the past they would’ve been protected by the First Amendment. But if you have a deal in front of the FCC, you don’t poke the bear.”
Kimmel’s Controversial Remarks
The backlash began Monday when Kimmel mocked conservatives mourning Kirk and suggested a misleading narrative about the suspected assassin.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
Telecom insiders say those comments infuriated Carr, who has the authority to withhold broadcast licenses. That authority can make the difference between closing a multibillion-dollar merger or watching it collapse.
Disney and Nexstar Act Quickly
By Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Iger moved swiftly to suspend Kimmel’s show indefinitely. At the same time, Nexstar publicly announced its stations would stop carrying the program — a rare move for a broadcaster that depends heavily on ABC programming.
Rival Sinclair Broadcasting, known for its conservative leanings, went even further, declaring it would pull Kimmel’s show from its stations until the host personally apologizes to Kirk’s family and donates to his political activist group.
A Changing Media Landscape
The suspension underscores how drastically the FCC’s approach to political commentary on broadcast TV has shifted under Carr.
In the past, late-night hosts like Kimmel and Stephen Colbert thrived on partisan comedy without fear of regulatory pushback. But Carr has signaled that one-sided politics may no longer qualify as being in the “public interest.”
As he told Sean Hannity in a recent interview: “Running a narrow partisan circus, whatever the public interest means, it’s not that.”
That stance has already rippled across the industry:
- Paramount settled a suit with President Trump over CBS’s controversial interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign, fearing the FCC wouldn’t approve its $8 billion sale to Skydance.
- Colbert’s own show was reportedly canceled as a money-losing and politically charged program.
- ABC itself quietly paid Trump $16 million to settle a suit over comments by George Stephanopoulos.
What’s Next
If approved, the Tegna acquisition would give Nexstar control of 265 stations across 44 states, reaching 80% of U.S. households, in some markets running three or four stations. Kimmel’s suspension, then, isn’t just about one comedian’s joke but about the future of broadcast television, billions in mergers, and how far the FCC will go in reshaping the limits of political speech on the public airwaves.
