At The Hill communications prof Jeffrey M. McCall observes:
Illinois governor and obvious presidential candidate JB Pritzker said that ABC’s decision was “an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.” Schumer, Pritzker and the many other supposed champions of free speech, of course, blame President Trump and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr for Kimmel’s fate, both of whom have publicly railed against the late-night “comedian.”
But Kimmel’s show wasn’t suspended because of Trump, Carr or the Big Bad Wolf. It was suspended because ABC and parent company Disney are in the business of generating audiences and advertising revenue.
The corporate bigshots have decided that Kimmel can no longer deliver viewers and generate commercial dollars to their satisfaction. The nonsensical comment Kimmel made about Kirk was likely one straw too many even for Disney’s broad corporate shoulders.
and
If ABC were so afraid of Trump and Carr, it would have long ago cancelled “The View,” another production of ABC News. The gabbers on that show over the years have said things just as, or perhaps even more, bizarre than Kimmel, yet ABC keeps airing that program, presumably because it can generate an audience and revenue. ABC has also kept George Stephanopoulos in his news anchor chair, even though Trump would love to see him booted, suing ABC and collecting a settlement because of George’s comments.
The “gender gap” probably provides some insurance for “The View”. He concludes:
Trump and the FCC basically have no levers to pull that would sanction ABC/Disney on content issues that Kimmel or anybody else at ABC might present. And if, by some long shot, the FCC did sanction ABC/Disney over content, it is a slam dunk that SCOTUS would side with the network. The justices know that the First Amendment allows for a wide range of crazy speech, even for guys like Kimmel, who want to mislead and disrupt.
That should sound hauntingly familiar since its quite similar to what I wrote here yesterday.
Interestingly, some of my show biz connections are telling me that Jimmy Kimmel jumped rather than being pushed. He knew he was on the way out and so decided to do so his own way—with a bang.
Your author shows his colors when he claims Kimmel made a nonsensical comment about Kirk. His only comments about Kirk were expressing sympathy and anger at the violence. The part that is being objected to was his comments about the response from the right.
I guess you missed my comment that the FCC needs to approve Nexstar’s coming merger with Tegna. The FCC might not find reason to deny the merger but they could always find cause to delay it. You can try to make this sound good all you want but the FCC leader made a very public comment and Kimmel got fired saying essentially, “who will rid me of this troublesome comedian?” (Actually, I think the FCC was much more direct.)
All of the other people Trump doesn’t like? I guess you and your cited author have failed to notice he keeps suing them. As as has been noted, these are all large corporations with multiple interests. They all have stuff that needs govt approval or for which the govt can make it difficult for them to work. I believe the latest was the threat of a large suit against the networks since they dont give enough favorable coverage. Anyway, I believe Kimmel, in the current configuration, was going to go eventually but you are lying to yourself and us if you dont think the threats were important.
Steve
I should not be surprised if after a space long enough for decency’s sake Kimmel is back and unapologetic. After all, the on-screen faces reflect the views of the off-screen bosses.