An indication is seen exterior of the “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” present exterior the El Capitan Leisure Centre on Hollywood Boulevard, from the place the present is broadcast in Hollywood, California on Sept. 18, 2025.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Pictures
Disney’s determination this week to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” from its broadcast community ABC is shining a lightweight on part of the media enterprise over which the federal authorities has management.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump urged his administration ought to revoke the licenses of broadcast TV stations that he mentioned are “towards” him. Federal Communications Fee Chair Brendan Carr has made related threats, together with throughout a CNBC interview, additionally on Thursday.
It is not the primary time Trump or Carr has invoked the federal government’s energy to drag a broadcast station license — placing an in-the-weeds a part of the media enterprise entrance and heart for customers, and flexing the federal government’s energy over a serious a part of the business.
What’s a broadcast license?
Let’s begin with the fundamentals: Networks akin to Disney’s ABC, Paramount Skydance’s CBS, Comcast Corp.’s NBC and Fox Corp.’s Fox are a part of a system that requires them to acquire over-the-air spectrum licenses from the federal authorities as a way to broadcast these household-name stations.
Meaning free, over-the-air service to anybody with an antenna on their TV.
Pay-TV networks akin to CNN, MTV or FX, for instance, are thought of “over-the-top” and accessible for subscription charges. They’re typically bundled collectively and distributed by corporations akin to Comcast, Constitution Communications or DirecTV.
Broadcasters akin to ABC are recognized for programming that features native information, stay sports activities, prime-time sitcoms and dramas, in addition to late-night reveals akin to “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!”
Though the way in which customers watch these packages has considerably modified from the times of utilizing an antenna without cost viewership — now they’re typically considered through pay-TV bundles, plus the content material is often discovered on streaming platforms — the mannequin has remained largely the identical.
Corporations that personal native broadcast TV stations, akin to Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair, license spectrum — or the general public airwaves — from the federal government, with the FCC in management.
Via this public spectrum for radio and TV stations, the federal company has the fitting to control broadcasting and requires every community “by regulation to function its station within the ‘public curiosity, comfort and necessity.’ Typically, this implies it should air programming that’s conscious of the wants and issues of its local people of license,” in keeping with the FCC web site.
Can Trump and the FCC revoke licenses?
That definition of serving the “public curiosity” is what the FCC’s Carr has zeroed in on with conversations round revoking licenses.
On Thursday, Carr informed CNBC’s “Squawk on the Avenue” that feedback by Kimmel, linking the suspect within the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to Trump’s MAGA motion, had been “not a joke,” and as an alternative, he mentioned, had been “showing to immediately mislead the American public about … in all probability one of the important political occasions we have had in a very long time.”
When Trump has famous the federal government’s proper to remove licenses — each this week and prior to now — he has pointed to what he mentioned is bias towards him as president.
“I’ve learn someplace that the networks had been 97% towards me, once more, 97% unfavorable,” Trump mentioned Thursday, referring to his 2024 election victory.
“They provide me solely dangerous publicity, press. I imply, they’re getting a license,” Trump mentioned. “I might assume possibly their license ought to be taken away.”
Individuals protest on the El Capitan Leisure Centre, the place “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” was recorded for broadcast, following his suspension for remarks he made concerning Charlie Kirk’s assassination, on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Sept. 18, 2025.
David Swanson | Reuters
In August, Trump accused networks ABC and NBC of being “two of the worst and most biased networks in historical past” and urged revoking their broadcast licenses.
Carr earlier this 12 months, freshly in his put up as FCC chairman, reawakened complaints directed at ABC, NBC and CBS from the conservative group the Heart for American Rights.
And in February, throughout a dialog at Semafor’s “Innovating to Restore Belief in Information” summit in Washington, D.C., he urged the company can be wanting carefully at licenses.
“If you are going to have a license to be a broadcaster, it comes with one thing referred to as ‘it’s a must to serve the general public curiosity.’ Should you do not need to try this, that is OK,” Carr mentioned through the summit. “I provides you with the deal with of the FCC … you are free to show your license in and you may go podcast and also you go over-the-top.”
What occurs if ABC or NBC loses its license?
If the federal authorities deems a broadcast TV community is not appearing within the public curiosity, it could actually revoke the license from the station’s proprietor, and the native station would successfully go darkish in its market.
The native networks can preempt the programming, that means air one thing aside from what the broader community is providing up. That might theoretically preserve the stations in compliance if the FCC had been to search out the published content material illegal. Nevertheless it’s unclear the place that line would fall.
The method of revoking a license is not so easy, in keeping with Roy Gutterman, a professor and professional on communications regulation and the First Modification at Syracuse College’s Newhouse College.
“There’s an entire course of earlier than you possibly can yank somebody’s license,” Gutterman mentioned, including that the matter can be topic to an investigation and process — and would doubtless garner authorized challenges.
Sometimes, the dialogue of whether or not a station violated the FCC’s tips facilities round kids’s programming, a minimize to information content material, or obscenity — akin to Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction through the Tremendous Bowl in 2004.
Trump and his administration’s threats take a distinct tack.
“That is such an unprecedented difficulty,” Gutterman mentioned. “Accountable use of the airwaves doesn’t suggest having the political language [the government] does not need on there … Accountable use is not a political difficulty.”
Strain mounting
There’s one other issue at play right here: The federal government’s position in native TV consolidation.
On Wednesday, earlier than ABC sidelined Kimmel, Nexstar introduced its stations affiliated with ABC would not air the late evening present and as an alternative would preempt it “for the foreseeable future” as a result of host’s statements.
Whereas Disney owns a portion of its ABC-affiliated networks, Nexstar, in addition to Sinclair — which equally mentioned it could preempt the present — personal the overwhelming majority. Nexstar owns about 30 ABC-affiliated networks throughout the U.S., or 10% of the greater than 200 stations Nexstar owns in whole.
Nexstar is presently in search of authorities approval of a $6.2 billion deal to merge with fellow broadcast TV station proprietor Tegna, which might upend longstanding rules for broadcast station house owners.
Sinclair has additionally mentioned it is seeking to merge its broadcast TV station enterprise with one other competitor, though a deal has but to be introduced.
Whereas Nexstar and its friends have bulked up through the years by way of acquisitions, they have been topic to longstanding federal limits on the variety of stations that these mother or father corporations can personal.
On Tuesday, Might 13, 2025 at North Javits in New York Metropolis, an unbelievable roster of all-star expertise will tout their connections to storytelling, Disney, and one another whereas showcasing their newest tasks for the upcoming 12 months.
Michael Le Brecht | Disney Common Leisure Content material | Getty Pictures
Following Trump’s election in November, leaders of the station house owners — in addition to different media companies — noticed a gap for additional consolidation and offers.
The FCC’s Carr has additionally publicly mentioned in latest months that he would help eliminating broadcast station possession guidelines and caps, paving the way in which for such offers, which may assist salvage a enterprise mannequin that is being disrupted.
With the rise of streaming, the pay-TV ecosystem has bled customers, and broadcast TV networks and native associates have additionally felt the results.
Whereas the stations are free to air, distributors akin to Constitution pay the broadcasters so-called retransmission charges, on a per-subscriber foundation, for the fitting to hold the stations. These profitable charges closely buoy the earnings of corporations akin to Nexstar, which suggests dwindling pay-TV clients cuts into broadcast earnings.
Disclosure: Comcast is the mother or father firm of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would grow to be the brand new mother or father firm of CNBC beneath a deliberate spinoff.
