“As I was saying before I was interrupted … ”
If those words sound familiar, they were the first words from ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel after he returned last week from a suspension for his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
My own interruption in September was self-made: A planned vacation coincided with the timing of Kimmel’s suspension.
I found it beneficial to have some time to think about all the ramifications that came with Kimmel’s suspension after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr practically demanded the host be punished.
It was even better to take more time to reflect because the two large station groups that have affiliates in Buffalo, Sinclair and Tegna, which initially chose to keep Kimmel off the air, relented Friday and are now carrying “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
With apologies to David Letterman, here are my Top 10 thoughts about the Kimmel controversy:
Kimmel gave critics something to complain about: Here’s what he said in his Sept. 15 monologue: “The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points for it.”
Conservatives concluded that Kimmel was suggesting the alleged assassin was a MAGA supporter, which was at odds with what his parents said about their son.
Kimmel wasn’t saying that, but you can see how his words could be misinterpreted. That’s his fault.
I never thought Kimmel would apologize or needed to: As I wrote on X the day of his return, I thought Kimmel would use the expression “unartful,” which was used about former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy before he lost his job, to describe his choice of words.
That was close to what Kimmel said upon his return. He said his comments were “ill-timed and unclear.”
To be clear, they were initially made to set up the subsequent clip in which President Trump was asked how he was doing after his friend and supporter was killed. The president indicated he was doing OK and quickly changed the subject to the renovations at the White House.
Kimmel cracked that the president was in the fourth stage of grief: construction.
The humor police didn’t think that line was funny: On a CNN panel discussion, Frank Sesno, a former CNN correspondent and professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University, defended Kimmel’s right to free speech even while saying his remarks weren’t funny.
As I’ve written before, what is funny is subjective.
I thought the clip from the president was so awkward that it was practically calling out for humor. And Kimmel and I aren’t the only ones who thought that. On “The Daily Show,” Desi Lydic said she was struggling to find the right words to say about Kirk’s death, but said she took comfort in knowing she was not the only one, before showing the clip of Trump celebrating the White House renovations.
“Well we all grieve in our own way,” she said.
Kimmel was masterful in his return: He hit all the right notes in what amounted to a 30-minute monologue dealing with the importance of free speech over two segments. His remarks were thoughtful, moving and funny. He also was right in predicting that his comments weren’t going to change anyone’s opinion of him.
ABC knew what Kimmel said before his controversial show aired: The show is called “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” but it is recorded in the afternoon in Los Angeles, hours before it airs nationally.
If ABC – which likely has someone supervising the show – had any problems with what Kimmel said, it could have edited out any offensive line before it aired. (I’ve been saved by my editor countless times.)
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ABC obviously didn’t expect any outrage, which took some time to emerge.
FCC chair embarrassed himself, but Democratic calls for him to resign were counterproductive: When even Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said on a podcast that Carr’s comments threatening ABC with regulatory action unless it disciplined Kimmel reminded him of something that the Mafia would do, you know the FCC head crossed a line.
In his return, Kimmel smartly used Carr’s own words in 2022 against him when Carr called political satire “one of the most important forms of free speech.”
Still, it is hard to understand why Democrats would want Carr to resign. After all, his replacement would be named by Trump. Democrats are better off with the wounded devil they know than the one likely to replace Carr.
Sinclair and Nexstar overplayed their hands: The two groups who own many ABC stations jeopardized their relationship with the network before they began to air Kimmel again.
Sinclair’s demand that Kimmel apologize and give a “meaningful donation” to Kirk’s family and organization Turning Point USA was preposterous. How can you demand someone donate to a cause? What did money have to do with it?
Both station groups eventually relented apparently without getting any concessions and agreed to air Kimmel’s show Friday, when ABC carried a repeat of Tuesday’s return episode.
The groups likely came to understand they had little leverage with Disney-owned ABC, especially now that streaming is becoming a much bigger player.
Because of streaming, you can even see a future in which ABC/Disney doesn’t need any affiliates other than the ones in big cities that it owns.
The proposed mergers before the FCC are compromised: Nexstar, which owns WIVB-TV (Channel 4) and has a proposed $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, which owns WGRZ-TV (Channel 2), denied its initial decision to keep Kimmel off the air had anything to do with needing FCC approval for the deal.
But it smells fishy.
If anything, the Sinclair and Nexstar actions should be Exhibit A against changing the rules and allowing the number of stations a group can own to expand. Besides damaging local news coverage, the merger would give the groups too much power.
As a report on “Sunday Today” explained over the weekend, billionaires are getting an increasing amount of power owning media companies because of mergers.
The Buffalo Bills and the NFL should have stayed out politics: The NFL also has a pending deal with Disney that will require FCC approval, so it has reasons to curry favor with Carr, too.
That could be why the “Thursday Night Football” game against Miami included a couple of tributes to Charlie Kirk.
The games should be a refuge from politics. One might have thought Bills owner Terry Pegula and the NFL would have steered away from any political controversy as they have tried to do in the past.
Of course, practically everything these days has political overtones.
Low ratings are, well, overrated: Trump and his allies have ridiculed Kimmel’s low ratings. To put things in perspective, he usually wins in the key demographic. And ratings are low everywhere on broadcast television, other than for NFL games.
Many prime-time programs get ratings in the 1s, 2s and 3s in Buffalo. NBC now reminds people to set their DVRs because they realize many viewers don’t watch programs on their scheduled times.
Kimmel got the last laugh on his return program for his ratings locally and nationally. Nationally, it drew more viewers than it had in a decade despite being off all those Sinclair and Nexstar stations that comprise 23% of the country.
Kimmel’s return had a 5.6 rating on WKBW-TV (Channel 7), which is almost five times as high as his average was in Buffalo during the May sweeps.
It also is higher than any prime-time entertainment or local news program that the E.W. Scripps station receives here.
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Alan Pergament
TV Critic
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