• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

Fear that the Trump administration was poised to take action against ABC/Disney for remarks Jimmy Kimmel made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the catalyst for Disney’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel and his show indefinitely on Wednesday, news reports on Friday confirm.

Specifically, the threat made by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr earlier in the day on Wednesday that the FCC is considering investigating TV stations for airing late-night TV shows critical of the president -- with an eye toward possibly revoking their broadcast licenses -- had a kind of domino effect as ABC began to hear from alarmed stakeholders.

One group was rattled sponsors, according to Friday’s Wall Street Journal. Another was the two biggest owners of TV stations in the United States -- Texas-based Nexstar Media Group and Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group. They both announced on Wednesday that they would preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” effective immediately.

The two companies, both conservative-leaning, were reacting to the now-infamous remarks Kimmel made on Tuesday’s show in which he blamed MAGA adherents for Charlie Kirk’s assassination, although none of the available evidence suggests this.

Both groups own ABC affiliates covering a substantial swath of the U.S. Ultimately, their rebellion made the Kimmel show untenable.

ABC had no choice but to suspend the show, since no network TV show is sustainable unless it covers the entire country. The two station groups flexed their muscles and they won. 

Indeed, in Sinclair’s press release, the company took credit for ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel. 

“As discussed with ABC earlier today, Sinclair decided to indefinitely preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ beginning tonight,” the press release said. “Following these discussions, ABC has suspended production of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ ”

Sinclair owns ABC affiliates in 28 DMAs -- large, medium and small, according to a count of the list of TV-station holdings posted on the company’s own website. 

One of its stations is arguably the biggest TV station in Washington, D.C. -- WJLA-TV, an ABC affiliate -- which means the company is in position to exert some influence there.

Nexstar owns ABC affiliates in 26 DMAs – also large, medium and small, according to a similar count on that company’s website. Nexstar’s Kimmel announcement came around the same time as Sinclair’s on Wednesday. 

The manner in which the news broke on Wednesday indicated that ABC informed Kimmel that he was through seemingly mere minutes after the discussions with the station groups, which both released statements about Kimmel.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcast division, in a prepared statement.

“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show,” he said.

Nexstar owns no ABC affiliates in the Top 10 markets, but the company’s decision to kick the network out of the 11:35 p.m-12:35 a.m. timeslot and reclaim it for its own stations nevertheless represented a serious setback for ABC and Kimmel’s show.

Nexstar’s largest ABC markets include 26th-ranked Nashville, Salt Lake City (28), Hartford-New Haven (32), Harrisburg, Pa. (42) and New Orleans (50). Its smallest ABC market is Watertown, N.Y., ranked 179th.

In addition to Washington, Sinclair’s other ABC markets include Seattle-Tacoma, ranked 12th, and St. Louis (24). The company’s smallest ABC market is San Angelo, Texas, ranked 197th.

“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” said Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith in a prepared statement. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities.”

“We appreciate FCC Chairman [Brendan] Carr’s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks,” he said.

“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, we can do this the easy way, or these companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr said on Wednesday podcast.

Sinclair vowed that it will not consider restoring the Kimmel show until “formal discussions are held with ABC regarding to the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.”

The company also requested that Kimmel himself “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family” and “make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk family and [the organization Charlie Kirk founded] Turning Point USA.”

The odds of either of these things happening are slim to none. For that matter, so is the prospect of Kimmel ever coming back to ABC.