First Kimmel, then Fallon and Meyers? A veteran television scholar says that the end of the night cannot survive politics
President Donald Trump celebrated the indefinite suspension of ABC, belonging to Disney Jimmy Kimmel Live! After Wednesday evening, congratulating ABC for having “finally had the courage to do what must be done”. Trump also displayed on his platform, wrongly, that Kimmel’s show had been “canceled”. The president continued to publish, indicating that he wants to reshape television at the end of the evening.
Trump used the suspension – which occurred after an ABC affiliation revolt on Kimmel’s criticisms of the conservative response to the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk – to double his quarrel with a television at the end of the evening, targeting Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as “two losers in total”.
“Their notes are also horrible,” published Trump on his platform, Truthocial. “Do it NBC !!!”
But Robert Thompson from the University of Syracuse, a multimedia and entertainment scholarly largely cited, said Fortune The suspension cannot be explained by the dimensions.
“You do not draw a mid-week show which is already reserved because of the notes,” he said. “This is not how the networks work.”
Despite Trump’s call, the decision to withdraw Kimmel from the air was not only a network decision: it was motivated by a Nexstar and Sinclair revolt, companies that control dozens of ABC affiliation stations, just hours after Kimmel’s controversial show. ABC belonging to Disney responded by suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! Indefinitely.
“It was one of the fastest efforts of the power of the station I have ever seen,” said Thompson. “Back in the NYPD Blue days, some affiliates refused to broadcast it, but ABC kept the show. This time, ABC pulled the catch itself. »»
The president of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, described the refusal of the affiliates to broadcast Kimmel’s program as a “turning point” for the inherited media.
“This action today by Nexstar and Sinclair, frankly, is unprecedented,” said Carr on Hannity Wednesday. “I cannot imagine another time when local broadcasters told a national programmer like Disney that your content no longer meets the needs and values ​​of our community.”
Carr also warned that an additional regulatory examination could follow. In a separate interview with the conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, he suggested that the FCC could review Kimmel’s comments under potential “distortion of news”.
“Any license granted by us to the FCC is forced to operate in the public interest,” said Carr, adding that Kimmel’s remarks on Kirk’s alleged killer seemed to be an “intentional effort to mislead the American people.”
Kimmel faced a backlash after his episode of September 15, where he said, among others, “[w]He hit new stocks during the weekend with the Gang Maga trying desperately to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them and do everything they can to score political points. “”
Trump takes the opportunity to expand his quarrel
Seizing the controversy, Trump won a victory tour, welcoming Kimmel’s suspension as “excellent news for America” ​​and calling a “zero talent” man.
Trump has long hates many end-of-evening talk shows, who have made him ass of their monologues filled with jokes for years. In August, Trump had rejected Stephen Colbert as “without talent” shortly before the cancellation of CBS The late show With Stephen Colbert after a decade race.
CBS cited the excessive spending of the show despite the fact that Colbert leading in the notes; He also came in the context of CBS’s parent company, Paramount, winning the regulatory approval of his takeover by Skydance, a company belonging to David Ellison, the son of Trump Ally Larry Ellison, the billionaire of Oracle and the second richest man in the world. Paramount settled a Trump trial on the modification of an advertisement for a 60 minutes News broadcast during the 2024 presidential campaign, while the agreement was awaiting approval. ABC, for its part, has already established a similar regulation with the Trump administration.
Kimmel, faced with weak notes, was himself in time borrowed; His agreement with ABC only operated until 2026. Unlike NBC, who locked himself in Fallon and Meyers until 2028, Disney had not yet called the future of Kimmel, even if Jimmy Kimmel Live! Has long doubled as a precious marketing engine for Marvel, Star Wars and other Tentpoles studio.
Beginning of the end for the end of the night?
The simultaneous political repression and the consolidation of companies left late at night – a foundation of American television for 70 years – an inflection point.
“The networks do not seem to have an appetite for the kind of aggressive political comedy that has dominated the last 25 years,” said Thompson. “We could complete the loop, back in a style of Carson, harmless at the end of the evening – with NBC the last standing.”
It would leave Seth Meyers in a precarious place.
“He must walk very carefully,” warned Thompson. “Does he serve his fans and may become the third victim, or soften them and alienate them? There is no good option.”
Meanwhile, Fallon and Meyers continue to lampiler Trump. Fallon joked on the trip to Trump’s UK – “When he holds a small tea sandwich, his hands looks of normal size” – while Meyers compared Trump’s logic of NATO to an “email of the scam”.
But their comedy now takes place under a shadow: Trump’s attacks, the FCC control and the news of the affiliates to challenge national networks. Together, they suggest a changing media landscape – one where the end of the night may no longer be a safe ground for actors to even test their wildest equipment.
Unlike Fallon, which has a less aggressive comic style, Meyers is suddenly alone among the most aggressively political hosts. He is in a liaison without gain, Thompson said: if he continues to make a clear anti-top comedy, he may well be the next victim. But if he softens his jokes, he will alienate the very public he built.
“I would hate being Seth Meyers right now,” said Thompson.
