Jimmy Kimmel pulled from the air

[JimmySpeaks]

11 hours ago, fishbane said:

That isn't the order things have been reported to the public.  The order was FCC Chair's podcast appearance->Affiliates announce their decision->ABC suspends Kimmel.  Rolling Stone also reported of an emergency meeting with executives from Disney, ABC, and ABC affiliates where multiple executives felt Kimmel did not cross the line, but the threat of retaliation was a factor.

"In the hours leading up to the decision to pull Kimmel, two sources familiar with the matter say, senior executives at ABC, its owner Disney, and affiliates convened emergency meetings to figure out how to minimize the damage. Multiple execs felt that Kimmel had not actually said anything over the line, the two sources say, but the threat of Trump administration retaliation loomed.

'They were pissing themselves all day,' one ABC insider tells Rolling Stone."

So whether you or I think it's a threat or USA Today simply thinks it sounded like a threat, it is more important that executives at ABC, Disney, and its affiliates took it as a threat.

There is a good chance any FCC enforcement action against ABC/affiliates based on Jimmy Kimmel's comments would ultimately fail, as many of this administration's enforcement actions have, but it would still be costly and time consuming to fight.  Blocking Nexstar's pending merger wouldn't even be an enforcement action and could be more costly than any fine or contesting one.   The merger would make Nexstar the largest broadcast affiliate capable of reaching 80% of US households.  Nexstar wants the merger to go through and what happened is problematic whether the FCC chair's comments were seen as a threat to the deal or Nexstar took the action preemptively to try and ingratiate itself with the administration to grease the wheels and allow a merger that might not be in the public interest through.

What reporting to the public are you referencing because the article I read has it in the order I laid out 

[fishbane]

1 hour ago, JimmySpeaks said:

What reporting to the public are you referencing because the article I read has it in the order I laid out 

I am referring to the publication time of Benny Johnson’s podcast to Apple and the time of publication of all stories I could find reporting on an affiliate stating they were not going to air his show.  Those started to appear over an hour after the podcast was published.

The Hollywood Reporter article you linked to in this thread doesn’t give a relative timeline of the three events, but it does state the following

”The network’s action came just after Nexstar, one of the biggest owners of local TV stations in the country — including 28 ABC affiliates — said it will preempt the series for the immediate future. A source said that ABC had also heard from at least one other station group about the show, suggesting that an affiliate revolt may have played a role in the decision .”

That seems to state pretty clearly that Nexstar’s decision preceded ABC’s decision.  The article then continues

“The dramatic move follows Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatening to take action against ABC affiliates in the wake of a Kimmel comment that many took as suggesting the Kirk shooting suspect was a MAGA Republican during his Monday monologue.”

That statement is a little unclear as far as setting the overall timeline.  The dramatic move followed Carr’s threat but was the dramatic move the affiliate’s decision or ABC’s?  If it’s Nexstar’s decision then that is the timeline I had said.  If it’s ABC’s decision then it’s possible that Nexstar’s decision came before Carr’s comments.  Fortunately they provide a link which takes us to an article they published earlier.  In that article they describe the events as follows,

“Kimmel’s comments about the Charlie Kirk shooting during Tuesday’s show drew condemnation from Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr. That, in turn, prompted one group of ABC affiliates, owned by Nexstar Media Group, to declare they will not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the immediate future, which then led ABC to announce the show was being taken off the air ‘indefinitely.’ “

That seems pretty clear.  Kimmel’s comments>Carr’s condemnation>Nexstar’s declaration>ABC’s announcement.  That is the timeline I gave which you disagree with.  Which article was it that you read with an alternate timeline?

[El Luchador]

12 hours ago, fishbane said:

Fox Business is saying my exact point. "ABC braces for a financial hit as Kimmel removal shuts out these advertisers... With the show sidelined, advertisers may seek cheaper rates or placement elsewhere."

If ABC were worried about losing out on advertising $$ and viewers from the right then their actions over the past decade are pretty head-scratching.   If the market forces are to blame then which option would have a bigger negative financial consequences?  1) Leave the program on and risk a boycott from viewers on the right and loss of advertising $$ that comes along with this 2) Take it off the air seemingly capitulating to the Trump administration and risk a boycott from viewers on the left whilst collecting advertising $$ at the rate commanded by re-runs of Celebrity Family Feud.

Go with option 1 you are alienating people who aren't watching Kimmel's shows anyway.  Advertisers looking to reach those individuals specifically likely don't advertise on Jimmy Kimmel Live!  Go with option 2 and you alienate viewers that actually watch content you produce and take an even bigger hit from advertisers.  

It is entirely believable that ABC's preferred solution was an apology.  This might not overly alienate viewers of any political persuasion, allow them to maximize advertising money, and thus allow ABC to recoup the largest % of the money they have spent/committed to producing Kimmel's show.  A well crafted apology might also mollify the FCC and prevent any retribution from the Trump administration.  I think that last point was the main goal with the apology.  Losing MAGA viewers, losing advertising $$, and even alienating actual viewers of the network was not as important as Nexstar's merger and staving off FCC enforcement.

They will have to go a little backwards to correct the ship. But running it into the ground is a more expensive option. Not dealing with the problem isn't cheaper. The advertisers were already complaining. 

[Caveira]

 

[Caveira]