Trump celebrates as Jimmy Kimmel goes off air: why are US broadcasters toeing the line?

‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ had been airing for over two decades, but has fallen prey to an increasing intolerance in the US towards views that are antagonistic to Trump, raising concerns that conservative Americans may have co-opted the very “cancel culture” of liberals that they once opposed. For America, where free speech has typically been a fiercely protected right, the cancellation of Kimmel and Colbert’s is a moment of reckoning.

The trend also suggests that Kimmel and Colbert may not be the last ones to go off air. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said, “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” urging another network, NBC, to take down shows by Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

What did Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk?

During his opening monologue, Kimmel suspected that Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson was a MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republican. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on his show.

He also criticised flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk, and mocked Trump’s reaction to the shooting. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” said Kimmel.

Kimmel’s comments had earlier drawn criticism from Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr, who had also threatened ABC’s licence. In a podcast, Carr said “What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a licence granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

The ABC’s decision to indefinitely take Kimmel’s show off air came shortly after Nexstar, one of the largest local broadcast station groups in the US, said it would preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ beginning Wednesday night over the host’s comments about Kirk. Carr has thanked Nexstar for “doing the right thing”.

Late-night shows face the brunt

For decades, late-night chat shows have epitomised free speech ideals in the US, where hosts could speak truth to power, and regularly make fun of them, with very little fear of state retribution. It’s a format that many countries have tried emulating with varying degrees of success. Of course, they faced competition from online content creators who built up sizable audiences of their own, at a fraction of the costs it takes to produce a television show.

But, beyond their social relevance, it is the involvement of political compulsions that is today clear in a way that has never been before. Earlier this year, American broadcaster CBS decided to cancel Stephen Colbert’s talk show citing financial constraints.

However, several suspected that there were reasons deeper than that. The show’s cancellation came just days after Colbert delivered an on-air monologue criticising Paramount’s – CBS’ parent company’s – controversial $16 million legal settlement with Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, which many see as a quiet payoff to avoid further scrutiny.