ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after the late-night host's comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk's murder triggered backlash from affiliate stations and raised political stakes for pending broadcast deals. Nexstar Media Group, which operates 23 ABC affiliates and is seeking regulatory approval for a $6.2 billion takeover of Tegna, said it would no longer carry the show, citing Kimmel's remarks as "offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse," according to Andrew Alford, Nexstar's broadcasting division president.
The suspension comes as the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump-appointed chairman Brendan Carr, is weighing whether to approve the Nexstar-Tegna merger - a deal that would create the nation's largest local broadcaster, covering 80% of U.S. households across 265 stations in 44 states. The FCC's review is expected to be influenced by its broad mandate to ensure programming serves the "public interest."
Carr has taken what telecom lawyers describe as an "expansionary" view of that mandate, warning broadcasters that partisan content could threaten license renewals. "Running a narrow partisan circus, whatever the public interest means, it's not that," Carr told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
Kimmel sparked controversy Monday night by accusing conservatives of exploiting Kirk's assassination. "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," he said. He followed up Tuesday by mocking Vice President JD Vance's guest-host appearance on Kirk's podcast and criticizing President Donald Trump's public comments.
Disney CEO Bob Iger moved quickly to suspend the show, a step analysts say was aimed at preventing regulatory complications for Disney's own efforts to secure FCC approval of a major NFL broadcast rights deal for ESPN. Sinclair Broadcasting, a rival conservative-leaning broadcaster, said ABC's move did not go far enough and announced its stations would drop the program until Kimmel issues a direct apology to Kirk's family and donates to his activist group.
Industry insiders say the pressure campaign is reshaping how networks handle politically charged programming. Paramount recently settled a lawsuit with Trump over a CBS interview with Kamala Harris, reportedly to smooth its $8 billion Skydance merger. CBS also canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, another frequent critic of Trump, at the end of this season.
Telecom attorney sources told On The Money that "clearly, Nexstar is sucking up to Carr," adding that Kimmel's comments, while "noxious," would have been protected under the First Amendment in previous administrations. The FCC, however, is not required to grant broadcast licenses when it deems programming inconsistent with the public interest.
Nexstar's Tegna acquisition would expand its dominance in local TV markets, giving the combined company multiple station holdings in several major regions. That consolidation has drawn scrutiny from antitrust officials and public-interest advocates, making the company particularly sensitive to potential FCC roadblocks.
Kimmel, who has hosted the ABC late-night franchise since 2003, has not publicly commented on the suspension.
