ABC and Disney appear ready to dig in for a legal and political fight with the Federal Communications Commission. The broadcaster's latest move indicates how it feels about late-night TV star Jimmy Kimmel and highlights what CBS didn't do for Stephen Colbert.
ABC moved forward with renewing the licenses for its owned local stations while simultaneously challenging the legitimacy of the FCC’s demands. In filings tied to the renewals, the company argued that the agency’s actions were politically motivated and represented an improper attempt to pressure a media company over content and speech.
“The only plausible reason to issue the order is to punish the station for speech the government does not like,” ABC wrote.
Last month, FCC Chair Brendan Carr ordered ABC to begin renewing station licenses years earlier than expected. Carr has maintained that the scrutiny is connected to an ongoing review of Disney’s diversity and hiring policies. But the timing has fueled widespread speculation that the conflict is also tied to Jimmy Kimmel.
The pressure campaign intensified shortly after Kimmel’s joke about First Lady Melania Trump around the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Calls for consequences against the ABC host quickly followed, and the controversy only grew after Kimmel addressed the criticism head-on in a monologue that went viral.
ABC's actions on Thursday suggest that rather than create distance between the network and its late-night host, the company appears willing to publicly challenge the federal government. The contrast with CBS and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is hard to ignore.
Many fans believe that CBS and parent company Paramount sided with the Trump administration and in the process, kicked Colbert off the air. Throughout the years of President Donald Trump insulting and attacking Colbert, CBS never really came to his defense, and certainly not to the degree in which ABC seems to back Kimmel.
Disney’s willingness to escalate this fight suggests the company may see the issue as bigger than one comedian or one monologue. The company is effectively arguing that government power is being used in response to speech and commentary that political figures dislike.
If the intention behind the pressure campaign was to intimidate ABC or force the network to rein Kimmel in, the strategy increasingly appears to be having the opposite effect. Kimmel already delivers monologues like someone with nothing to lose. Knowing that his bosses are in his corner should only embolden the late-night host more.
Carr and the FCC remain adamant that this entire process has nothing to do with Jimmy Kimmel Live! or its host. But the Late Show controversy has made it nearly impossible for fans, industry observers, and even some within the FCC to see things any other way than payback for political comedy.
Add us as a preferred source on Google