Nexstar and Sinclair Lost Their Game of Chicken

"When ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air last week after his comments about Charlie Kirk's assassination, the obvious way to understand the story was that it was an attack on free speech. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr had, after all, publicly declared that ABC could do things "the easy way or the hard way" with regard to Kimmel, and then implied that local ABC affiliates might face "fines or license revocation" if nothing was done."

"Yet Kimmel's suspension also reflected something else: a flex by the broadcast-media companies Nexstar and Sinclair, which, over the past two decades, have acquired hundreds of local TV stations, and together own roughly 20 percent of all ABC affiliates. Within hours of Carr's comments, Nexstar and Sinclair announced that they would be taking Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air. Not long after, ABC said that it was suspending the show "indefinitely.""

"They were, however, wrong. When ABC brought Kimmel back this week, both Nexstar and Sinclair refused to air the show, and put on local programming instead. In doing so, they effectively chose to play a game of chicken with ABC, and yesterday, both Sinclair and Nexstar admitted defeat in that game and put Kimmel's show back on the air. Broadcast-station groups may be far more powerful than they once were, but in the end, the network remains the boss."

ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air after his comments about Charlie Kirk's assassination, and FCC Chair Brendan Carr warned affiliates they could face fines or license revocation. Nexstar and Sinclair, which together own roughly 20 percent of ABC affiliates and are part of a consolidation that leaves the three largest groups owning about 40 percent of local stations, announced they would stop airing Kimmel, prompting ABC to suspend the show indefinitely. When ABC later reinstated Kimmel, Nexstar and Sinclair initially refused and ran local programming, but both ultimately restored the show. The episode shows networks retain ultimate leverage despite station-group consolidation.

Read at The Atlantic