Some ABC Affiliate Groups REFUSE To Air Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Despite His Comeback, with Mark Halperin

Some ABC Affiliate Groups REFUSE To Air Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Despite His Comeback, with Mark Halperin

This morning I was listening to I do it so you don’t have to. NPR’s Up First morning podcast. I always like to hear what the left is saying. I know it’s painful, but I do it out of love for for the audience, not not because it’s important or or objective. And um they were getting into the Kimmel controversy, which we’re going to turn to now. And they needed to tee up, as any good report will do, how this got started. Why Why are we talking about Jimmy Kimmel? was his alleged offense on the airwaves that caused him to be pulled off the air for a week. And here was their summary. Just I mean, I know this audience knows, but just just to be clear, he was thrown off the air for a week because he decided to suggest that the shooter of of Charlie Kirk was MAGA and that MAGA had been trying to cover for him because he was one of their own. But here is how the NPR audience heard about Kimmel’s offense. Jimmy Kimmel Live will be back on the air tonight, nearly a week after the late night show was pulled off the air. During his monologue last week, Kimmel made fun of Trump’s reaction to the Charlie Kirk killing and accused MAGA of using his death to score political points. Made fun of Trump and accused Maga of using his death to score political points. Zero about what Kimmel actually said, Mark. And that is by design. It is a willful misleading of the audience and and you know they elied the most difficult points of what they’re dealing with over there on the leftist team because they’re trying to run cover for one of their own. Yeah. You know, I still hear from people who say, “Oh, you’re wrong. The media is not liberally biased. They’re corporate biased or whatever.” I mean, that that is one example of many. and and I’ve I’ve read obsessively read the New York Times and Washington Post coverage of the assassination. Uh they they just will not drop the same mindset that caused them to participate in an attempted cover up of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline or to cover everything Donald Trump does with hostility. This is this is unfortunately part for the course. And those who thought as as maybe I did for 20 seconds that the assassination of Charlie Kirk would cause a consciousness raising, they’re just they’re just not they’re just not um willing to change their ways just because a man was assassinated. Just for the record, here’s 20. 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. Yeah. Just just so we’re all clear on what he actually said. So he’s coming back now, Mark, but not not everywhere. It’s actually gotten very interesting. Just before we came to air, we found out last night we knew that Sinclair, which owns um some I don’t know what the number is on Sinclair, a large number, is it 38 um affiliate groups or you know, stations, said, “We don’t care what you say, Disney. We’re not airing Jimmy Kimmel and it’s up to us.” Something they were empowered to say by Brendan Carr of the FCC. Uh he didn’t make them do whatever they did, but he made clear to them, you know, you do have independent authority. you actually do have a right to protect the public interest and if you don’t want to air Jimmy Kimmel, you don’t have to. Um, so Sinclair, notwithstanding the fact that Disney said, “We’re bringing him back.” Disney held the line for five episodes and then said, “Oh, wait. We got a nasty letter from uh Jimmy Kimmel supporting celebrities. Okay, we’re out. He’s back on.” Uh, so Sinclair said, “No, we’re not airing him.” And then this morning, just as we came to air, Nextar Too said, “Us either. We’re not airing him either.” So now you’ve got some one-third of the ABC affiliates out there airing something else. I think it’s going to be alternate news programming uh is the option right now. And that’s interesting because now we’re in the same position we were in yesterday and the day before. Mark, those are the two station groups, station owners who said we’re not airing Kimmel. So where are we today in your view just in terms of this fight? Well, once upon a time, the relationship between the networks and the station groups were even more uh intense and and the sta the networks were even more dependent on the stations that they can put it on Hulu. They could put it on YouTube. So, they can distribute more easily in the digital age without the stations. But make no mistake, they’re still very dependent on those affiliate relationships. And these two big station owners have the right and and I’m sure they think the responsibility to not bring Kimmel back. I suspect Disney will try to change their minds. Or perhaps this will be the spur to cancel a show that that I don’t know if it makes money or not, but it’s not as popular as it once was. This is a this is how how the market should work, right? Disney can do what it wants and these station owners can do what they want and in the end and almost certainly the consumers will decide. But as you pointed out, liberals are really up in arms about this and they wanted Kimmel back on and and amongst the parts of Bob Iger’s job is running the Walt Disney Company and the ABC network is keeping talent happy and most of the talent is extremely liberal. So who’s winning? Well, I don’t think we know. I think we’ll have to see if these stations continue to not run the show, if the show gets cancelled. if Disney finds some other way to distribute it. I mean, the reality is if they put it on YouTube and Hulu, uh, they may get a bigger audience than than they get and and they may be able to monetize that more than they do on the ABC television network. So, commercially, it’s too soon to say who’s winning. And I think in terms of the political or ideological fight, I think I think it’s good that the market can decide and that these stations can stand up and do what they think is right for their constituencies and for their own personal views. See, I think it’s great that NextStar and Sinclair are standing up for their audiences. My team tells me that they comprise a total of 22% of US households that uh according to the Wall Street Journal combined, they own and operate more than 60 ABC affiliates that reach 22% of US households. So, it’s a it’s a pretty good chunk of the ABC audience, which means, you know, Kimmel’s ratings will be inflated because of the controversy. No question. I don’t know whether we’ll see that given the fact that these two affiliate owners are not going to air his show. But this is like to me this is great because finally conservatives fought back and the station group owners who are not coastal elites. I mean the they represent and heir to people who are not coastal elites. They’re they’re not on Bob Iger’s yacht. They’re they they’re not in Beverly Hills being controlled by celebrities. They’re across flyover country and those are their audiences and constituents who are complaining about Jimmy Kimmel. And up until now, they just had to take it. They just had to swallow his BS and pretend there was nothing they could do about it. And to me, that is what Brendan Carr telegraphed to these station groups last week. you actually do have power to say no to Disney. And that would be the easy way of making your upset clear. That would be the easy way of you turning around to Disney and saying, “We’re not airing this crap.” The hard way, he explained yesterday at a public appearance, would be people start filing complaints against Disney and the affiliate groups and then the FCC has to look into the complaints and it becomes a more tricky sticky matter. We didn’t get there. Yeah. Before Charlie was assassinated, before Chairman Carr raised this, there were two points that that are germanine but have been a little bit overtaken and overlooked. One is I think most sensible people in the left and the right don’t think the system where the government the FCC um polices these these entities is sensible. It existed once upon a time when there was so little media that it was important that the public interest be represented but I don’t think I don’t think I think this is an anacronism that the FCC has oversight over these kind of communications. And then second, these stations in their news coverage uh and in their late night comedy shows, these networks have been distributing biased programs, culturally, politically biased programs for a very long time. And so while Sinclair and Nexar chose to act in this instance, they could have and many would argue should have long before to use the same economic power, the same leverage they have to say, why should every late night comedian be hostile to Donald Trump and hostile to Republicans? Why shouldn’t the broadcast networks have something that’s either not political or equal opportunity offender? the the the the Saturday Night Live actually has been relatively balanced, not equal, but they’ve they did jokes during the Biden years, for instance, about about Joe Biden. these other programs, they are just propaganda arms to the Democratic party. And and I don’t know why Sinclair and Nextar didn’t act sooner, but they’ve acted belately in response to one particular thing with the same principle, which is they have economic power and they’re going to serve, as you said, their viewers and their constituencies as opposed to the corporate masters in Burbank. What a remarkable new model. I mean, I just don’t remember this ever happening, Mark. I don’t remember in all my time in television, I don’t remember affiliates doing this. When inflation jumps, when you hear the national debt is over 37 trillion bucks, do you ever think maybe now would be a good time to buy some gold? Well, it would be. Whether as a hedge against inflation, peace of mind during global instability, or just for sensible diversification, Birch Gold Group believes every American should own physical gold. So, they created something special. And through September 30th, if you’re a first-time gold buyer, Birch Gold is going to offer you a rebate of up to 10 grand in free metals on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, request an info kit just right now. Text MK to the number 989898. Plus, Birch Gold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401k into one in gold. And you’re still eligible for a rebate and free medals of up to 10 grand. Make right now your first time to buy gold and take advantage of a rebate of up to 10,000 bucks when you buy by September 30th. Text MK to the number 989898 to claim your eligibility and get your free info kit now. Thanks so much for watching. If you like what you just saw, hit the subscribe button for more clips and full episodes.

Megyn Kelly is joined by Mark Halperin, host of “Next Up with Mark Halperin,” to talk about Jimmy Kimmel’s return to ABC after a brief suspension, some affiliate groups holding strong and refusing to air the show still, and more.

Birch Gold: Text MK to 989898 and get your free info kit on gold

Subscribe to Mark’s show Next Up:
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-up-with-mark-halperin/id1810218232
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2f0n8G4xqUo8aGxbbbtRjH
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nextuphalperin?sub_confirmation=1

LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos everyday: https://bit.ly/3Aw93yw

Watch full clips of The Megyn Kelly Show here: https://bit.ly/3xFXNxI

Sign up for my ‘American News Minute’ weekly email: https://www.megynkelly.com

Tune in live on SiriusXM at 12-2pmET: SiriusXM.us/TheMegynKellyShow

Find the full audio show wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple — https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-megyn-kelly-show/id1532976305
Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/0awxEJH88Xur0GHXuteBLw?si=0EcxxHSLQhO2uYmpUN13KQ&dl_branch=1

Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms:
Twitter — https://twitter.com/MegynKellyShow
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/megynkellyshow/
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/MegynKellyShow

Connect with me on social media:
Twitter — https://twitter.com/megynkelly
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/megynkelly/
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/MegynKelly