There is a reason the Boston Tea Party resonates 250 years after that fateful night in 1773. An evening where a group of bold patriots stood up in defiance against institutional tyranny. In protest of the Tea Act, they raided the British East India Company ships, throwing overboard pounds of tea, sparking excitement for revolution across the colonies. In the same way today, both Nexstar and Sinclair have raised their fists and said, “We will no longer tolerate the lies and disrespect spewed by Jimmy Kimmel.”
No longer will Nexstar and Sinclair subject their communities to the garbage content produced by the liberal media and Hollywood. Disney would have to go elsewhere to sell its late-night show. Realizing they could not sell Kimmel through its other channels because Kimmel’s show was a ratings loser, Disney decided to indefinitely suspend the show.
REPUBLICANS REDEFINE BOUNDARIES OF FREE SPEECH
These TV affiliates all have lawyers and accountants. They know that, in addition to the lack of ratings, Kimmel’s unfounded rants could also be on the wrong side of the Federal Communications Commission’s public interest standard. Broadcast television and radio operate on the spectrum that is managed by the FCC for use by licensees.
Similar to when you board an airplane, you agree to comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules, such as no smoking, these broadcast stations must also operate in compliance with the FCC’s public interest standard. Growing up, you might have noticed that network TV didn’t show gratuitous nudity or vulgarity. Well, those were not examples of gross government censorship. No, those were the guardrails with which stations had to operate to stay in compliance.
Those TV network executives were also quite aware that on too many occasions during the Trump era, late-night hosts were willing to cross that public interest standard line. Both Stephen Colbert and Kimmel had to apologize multiple times for irrational rants that crossed the line of acceptable content for the airwaves. As production costs skyrocketed and ratings continued to crater, the reality that this current generation of late-night TV is failing has become clear. Ironically, straight shooter Greg Gutfeld’s Fox News show has been lapping the competition in viewership. Maybe it is just a coincidence that the one show in touch with its viewers is doing well.
Now, some misinformed libertarians and Pod Save America types will claim this entire situation is an example of censorship. Yes, it is true that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr did appear on a podcast and reiterate what every lawyer who knew the FCC’s address was already aware of: that the FCC can absolutely exercise its remit to investigate Kimmel’s monologue as a breach of the public interest standard.
If the FCC did find that this was worthy of a fine, it would not have been Kimmel who paid for it, but the licensees themselves who would have had to foot the bill and risk their licenses being pulled. Those affiliates made the best decision for themselves. They saw the market forces at play and recognized that the possible costs of Kimmel were piling up fast.
This entire episode highlights a larger debate: an initiative by the FCC to relax an onerous regulation that has long hindered local broadcasters and TV affiliates such as Nexstar and Sinclair. For decades, the FCC has had a rule that limits how many U.S. television households a single company can reach through its broadcast stations. This cap is set really low, at only 39% of American households, which means that conservative media companies such as Nexstar and Sinclair cannot compete with streaming services such as YouTube TV or big networks such as ABC or CBS.
EMBOLDENED FCC CHAIRMAN BECOMES POLITICAL LIGHTNING ROD IN FREE SPEECH DEBATE
The asymmetric dynamic at play often makes the local stations reliant on the large networks that often only create content like Kimmel. This creates a problem for these media companies trying to compete for eyeballs. Without the ability to expand beyond the cap, it is much harder to curate hyperlocal content that best fits their communities. Today’s stand is a watershed moment for local broadcasters.
They are carrying the fight for dignity, decency, and local voice into America’s living rooms. Nexstar and Sinclair have drawn a line: Hollywood elites don’t get to sneer at middle America and then demand its airwaves. If this moment sparks a broader revolution in broadcasting, one that restores balance, competition, and community over corporate arrogance, then history will remember that, just like 1773, it all began when people said “enough.”
Nathan Leamer is the executive director of the Digital First Project and founder of Fixed Gear Strategies. He also served as a senior adviser to former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. You can follow him on X at @nathanleamerDC.
