Nexstar Media Group denied claims that it pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off of its affiliate stations because of pressure from the FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
The FCC chairman said on a podcast Wednesday that the late night host should be reprimanded for his statements about Charlie Kirk’s killer, hinting that he could “do this the easy way or the hard way.” Hours later Nexstar, which has more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets, said it would preempt the late night show’s broadcast indefinitely, calling Kimmel’s remarks “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”
When asked if the decision to take Kimmel off the air was due to Carr’s remarks, Nexstar denied the accusation.
“The decision to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ 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,” Gary Weitman, Nexstar’s chief communications officer, said.
“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time,” Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said in a statement Wednesday. “We have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
Nexstar is currently awaiting FCC approval to acquire competing station group Tegna for $6.2 billion. That deal is expected to close by the second half of 2026, subject to Tegna shareholder and regulatory approvals. FCC Chairman Carr also stands in the way of that deal. Weitman has also denied that the Kimmel decision was influenced by the pending merger.
Carr has since thanked Nexstar for “doing the right thing.”
“Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest,” he wrote in an X statement. “While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead.”
ABC has indefinitely suspended Kimmel’s late night show after both Nexstar and Sinclair took “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off their affiliate stations. The suspension stems from comments that Kimmel made during his Monday night monologue in which he implies that Kirk’s killer was a Trump supporter.
Sinclair issued a list of demands that would need to be met for the media company to reinstate the show, including an apology from the late night host and a donation to Turning Point USA.
