HomeUncategorized🚨 COLBERT IS ALREADY GONE — AND ONE UNPRECEDENTED FCC MOVE MAY HAVE PUT JIMMY KIMMEL NEXT IN LINE For decades, America’s biggest networks competed to dominate late-night television. Now, CBS has ended Stephen Colbert’s historic franchise, audiences are moving toward streaming—and ABC has entered a confrontation that could place another flagship show under extraordinary pressure. At the centre of the dispute are eight local station licences being reviewed years earlier than expected. Jimmy Kimmel may still have a contract, but the battle surrounding his network has raised a much darker possibility. This is no longer simply about whether one comedian remains on television.
🚨 COLBERT IS ALREADY GONE — AND ONE UNPRECEDENTED FCC MOVE MAY HAVE PUT JIMMY KIMMEL NEXT IN LINE For decades, America’s biggest networks competed to dominate late-night television. Now, CBS has ended Stephen Colbert’s historic franchise, audiences are moving toward streaming—and ABC has entered a confrontation that could place another flagship show under extraordinary pressure. At the centre of the dispute are eight local station licences being reviewed years earlier than expected. Jimmy Kimmel may still have a contract, but the battle surrounding his network has raised a much darker possibility. This is no longer simply about whether one comedian remains on television.
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The FCC is preparing to initiate early license reviews for eight ABC stations, which is a practice that’s unheard of in the organization’s history. Disney and ABC are fighting back, filing a brief that alleges the FCC is starting these license reviews as retaliation for Kimmel’s jokes about Melania Trump:
“There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations,…Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.”
By filing this brief, ABC is drawing a line in the sand and showing how the FCC could potentially use its power to crack down on free speech. It also highlights how Jimmy Kimmel Live won’t be the only show in jeopardy if the FCC goes through with the license renewals.
The FCC-ABC Case Affects More than ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’
Image via ABC
Jimmy Kimmel Live isn’t the only show mentioned in ABC and Disney’s brief, as The View is alsoa potential target of the FCC. Many of The View‘s hosts, particularly Whoopi Goldberg, have been critical of President Donald Trump; ABC argues that FCC chair Brendan Carr is trying to carry out Trump’s wishes to silence anyone who criticizes him, and points out that the organization shouldn’t have the ability to police comedy or opinion programming, which Jimmy Kimmel Live and The View both fall under. A single sentence from the brief sums things up: “The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: Accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price.”
It’s not hard to argue ABC’s point of view, particularly when it comes to Trump’s reaction to other network programming. The president has called for Comcast to be investigated for treason and spent the majority of the White House Correspondents’ dinner insulting the journalists in attendance. Given this unchecked vitriol against the press and shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live and The View for expressing their own opinions, the FCC-ABC case could mean that other shows on other networks could find themselves under scrutiny for merely expressing their opinions. It’s a frightening thought, and it shouldn’t be the norm. Whether you agree or disagree with something that’s being said on television, the hosts of late-night shows, talk shows, and the news should be free to express themselves — just as viewers are free to change the channel.
