{"id":242296,"date":"2025-09-20T20:56:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T20:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/242296\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T20:56:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T20:56:10","slug":"nexstar-sinclair-take-on-disney-over-jimmy-kimmel-will-it-backfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/242296\/","title":{"rendered":"Nexstar, Sinclair Take on Disney Over Jimmy Kimmel: Will It Backfire?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDid the Nexstar<\/a> and Sinclair<\/a> station groups overplay their hands by aggressively taking on Disney this week? The decision to yank \u201cJimmy Kimmel<\/a> Live\u201d off their ABC affiliates \u2014 repping a combined 25% of the TV audience \u2014 may have an impact on several fronts, including the relationship between Disney and those two station groups moving forward, as well as the ongoing debate over loosening or abolishing the nationwide TV station ownership cap.<\/p>\n

\n\tNexstar is looking to acquire fellow station group Tegna in a $6.2 billion deal, and many insiders in broadcasting believe that the company\u2019s decision to pre-empt Kimmel (which led to his show being benched by ABC parent Disney) was done to curry favor with the Federal Communications Commission to approve that purchase. A Nexstar\/Tegna combo would put the combined company over the current legal limits of how many local stations that one entity can own, which is why Nexstar and other broadcasters are pushing hard for the FCC to abolish that rule. The \u201cstation cap,\u201d as it\u2019s known in broadcast jargon, is set at a total reach of 39% of U.S. TV households. Broadcasters would like to see the FCC abolish the station cap entirely, or at lift it to 50% or more.<\/p>\n

\n\tNexstar denies that its move on Kimmel that spurred ABC\u2019s decision had political motivations for the parent company. \u201cThe decision to preempt \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live<\/a>!\u201d was made unilaterally by the senior executive team at Nexstar, and they had no communication with the FCC or any government agency prior to making that decision,\u201d Nexstar said in statement Thursday. But nonetheless, Nexstar\u2019s announcement came only after FCC chairman Brendan Carr appeared on a podcast and strongly criticized Kimmel and ABC. A seemingly coordinated campaign of outrage against Kimmel began to build in right-wing media circles on Monday night and Tuesday after Kimmel\u2019s Sept. 15 show.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Sinclair Broadcast Group also has business with the FCC: Like Nexstar, the company would like to expand should the ownership cap be lifted; plus, it\u2019s pushing hard on the new ATSC 3.0 standard which would allow it to monetize spectrum. (Sinclair, which has traditionally championed conservative viewpoints and commentators, took a harder line than Nexstar on Kimmel, demanding an apology from the host and a donation to Charlie Kirk\u2019s Turning Point USA organization.) Sinclair didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tBesides the question of whether Nexstar and Sinclair were catering to the FCC, the announcements by Nexstar and Sinclair also come as the relationship between the broadcast networks and their affiliates have become highly contentious as of late.<\/p>\n

\n\tLocal TV outlets receive retransmission payments from cable and satellite operators, and the networks take a cut of those retrans dollars. (That money sent to the networks is called \u201creverse compensation,\u201d because once upon a time, the networks used to pay its affiliates to carry its lineups. Now, it\u2019s the reverse and stations pay the networks.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBut affiliates have grown concerned that networks are demanding too much of that retrans money. Right now, most stations pay fixed fees to networks for the right to carry their fare (including sports), but as the payments local stations receive from pay TV distributors declines, they\u2019re looking for a more variable payment model with the networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the FCC, Carr has been quick to highlight the growing tension between national network operations attached to media giants and the interests of local station owners.<\/p>\n

\n\tDid the Nexstar\/Sinclair gambit work? Perhaps, at least in winning over Carr, who thanked Nexstar on social media \u201cfor doing the right thing,\u201d seemingly putting the company in the FCC\u2019s good graces. It was already likely this administration would lift or raise the ownership cap; now that Nexstar and Sinclair have found favor with Carr and Trump, it\u2019s probably a done deal.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut this week\u2019s events also now put Nexstar and Sinclair right in the middle of a national conversation about free speech and the First Amendment \u2014 and many more people who hadn\u2019t heard of those companies before now see them as opponents in the free speech debate. That could lead to more push back from the public, guilds, unions and other entities that might aggressively fight against the idea of abolishing the station cap. \u201cI think they\u2019re going to hear from a lot of groups that would normally not speak up,\u201d says one observer. (Ironically, Nexstar owns a news network, News Nation, that would seemingly be hurt by further free speech restrictions.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe vast majority of TV stations are owned by a handful of broadcast TV giants such as Nexstar, Sinclair, Hearst, Scripps, Gray Television and Tegna, the group that Nexstar is hoping to acquire \u2014 and fears about local TV\u2019s monopolies, exacerbated by this week\u2019s Kimmel suspension, might make it tougher for even the FCC to rubberstamp an end to ownership caps.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, what\u2019s to come of \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live,\u201d should it return, on those Nexstar and Sinclair ABC affiliates? Nexstar and Sinclair may be loath to bring the show back, but execs familiar with the network\/affiliate relationship say there are a number of possibilities for ABC in keeping \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d around even without some affils. For one thing, the network could just put Kimmel back on the schedule without those station groups\u2019 blessings, march forward \u201cand see what those guys do,\u201d one observer suggested.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor ABC, should some of its affiliates permanently abandon \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live,\u201d there are several other options to fill the viewership gap. First off, in this digital era, a large chunk of the audience already catches Kimmel and his monologue via social media. Also, \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d is streamed on Hulu, and audiences in Nexstar\/Sinclair ABC markets could always find him there. And competitors in Nexstar\/Sinclair markets looking to grab some eyeballs (as there will be quite a bit of interest in Kimmel\u2019s return) and perhaps looking to ingratiate themselves with Disney might jump at the chance to clear \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d and any other ABC series the network\u2019s current affiliate refuses to broadcast.<\/p>\n

\n\tLocal station pre-emptions of network fare isn\u2019t new. In 1993, 57 ABC affiliates \u2014 mostly in small- and medium-sized markets \u2014 refused to air the premiere of the Alphabet network\u2019s \u201cNYPD Blue,\u201d citing concerns over content. So instead, ABC cleared the show on a mix of independent and Fox stations in those cities. When \u201cNYPD Blue\u201d became a massive hit, those ABC affiliate holdouts gave in and added the show back to their lineups. Similarly, it took time for CBS to get full nationwide clearance on \u201cLate Show With David Letterman\u201d when it first launched, but the Eye network found ways around that too.<\/p>\n

\n\tWill the network\/affiliate relationship between them and Disney already strained, will it fall apart if Nexstar and Sinclair permanently refuse to air \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d (or \u201cThe View,\u201d for that matter)?<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter all, if Nexstar and Sinclair decline to clear some of ABC\u2019s flagship shows, that will definitely have an impact on any affiliate renewals \u2014 and other stations may be waiting in the wings to take over. Most affiliate contracts are three-year deals, and media reports speculate that Disney\u2019s ABC affiliation deals with both Nexstar and Sinclair are believed to be up at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tLosing ABC affiliations would be a hit to Nexstar and Sinclair, which would have to find replacement programming (or expand their local news offerings on those stations). But if those companies successfully get their wish and the station cap lifts, they can expand their national reach even further \u2014 and as this week proves, that could cause more of a headache for the traditional broadcast networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tShould station groups grow in power and demand programming changes from networks like ABC, that could then become the tipping point. The broadcast networks, which have long been flirting with getting out of the linear business, might then accelerate such plans. In 2023, Disney\u2019s Bob Iger suggested that linear networks \u201cmay not be core to Disney,\u201d hinting that its broadcast and cable assets might eventually go on sale. Earlier this year, Iger backtracked those comments and threw his support behind holding on to linear. But a breakdown in deals with affiliates might reverse that again: Already, much ABC viewership is actually done on Hulu (or ESPN, in the case of Monday Night Football). \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe idea of having a tower sending out a signal to receivers is a pretty antiquated idea when KABC in Los Angeles could just put their programming on the internet,\u201d said one longtime network exec. (And indeed, KABC, like most local TV stations now, already simulcasts all of its newscasts on an app.)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBy going down this path, it could open up a lot of unintended consequences for the broadcast station groups, precipitated by the federal government,\u201d he added. \u201cBut a company like Disney, I think has a lot of options. Bob Iger said a few years ago the linear networks aren\u2019t part of their core business. So the station groups, are kind of out there in no man\u2019s land in some ways.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDisney, in terms of emancipation from the affiliates, could find other ways [to disseminate ABC programming]. At this point, I think the ratings on broadcast television have never been lower, and an event like this could cause a paradigm shift.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Did the Nexstar and Sinclair station groups overplay their hands by aggressively taking on Disney this week? The…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":242297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[171,11171,50812,96194,83070,173,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-242296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-jimmy-kimmel","10":"tag-jimmy-kimmel-live","11":"tag-nexstar","12":"tag-sinclair","13":"tag-tv","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115238625896388998","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}