Power, Pressure, and the 11:35 Slot: Kimmel’s Suspension Reveals How FCC Leverage, Affiliates, Advertisers and Streaming Could Remake Late‑Night TV
ABC’s decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr publicly warned ABC affiliates about potential license consequences did more than bench a marquee host. It exposed—at late night’s most iconic time stamp—the choke points now governing the format: a regulator’s leverage over broadcast licenses, the outsized clout of consolidated affiliate groups, advertiser sensitivity in a thinner-margin daypart, and a streaming ecosystem that can both siphon audience and offer refuge. The sequence was swift and revealing. Major station groups Nexstar and Sinclair moved first to drop the show. Within hours, Disney-owned ABC followed with a network-wide suspension after internal deliberations concluded Kimmel’s planned response might further inflame tensions. Carr applauded the preemptions, added “we’re not done yet,” and demonstrated how rhetorical pressure—short of a formal FCC vote—can still move a national schedule. The fallout now spans free speech concerns, a fragile business model for linear late night, and a looming reset that could push more comedy and commentary toward streaming clips, social platforms, and FAST channels.