Kimmel returns Tuesday

[davideduardo]

I realize I will get all kinds of negatives, but….

I watched the monologue. He never admitted to nor apologized for incorrectly saying that the shooter was MAGA.

 

[KML0224]

Kimmel did not air in Connecticut. Nexstar owns WTNH-TV channel 8 of New Haven. Gray owns WGGB-TV channel 40 in Springfield, MA. I can't receive them in my part of CT. Comcast or the prior companies haven't carried WGGB since at least 1986.

 

[michael hagerty]

Kimmel Is Back, But Not Everywhere: How Long Can Nexstar & Sinclair Keep Him Sidelined And What Are ABC’s Options?

'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' is returning to ABC, but not without complications.

deadline.com

It's amazing how media reporters don't understand media anymore:

Even if it’s only a few days, the industry could be in fairly uncharted territory given the sheer volume of the holdouts. (For comparison with one notable past flashpoint, it’s worth recalling that when Ellen DeGeneres’ character came out as gay on the sitcom Ellen in 1997, only one ABC affiliate, in Birmingham, AL, refused to air the show despite widespread controversy.)

Once Disney decided it was airing Kimmel, it put Nexstar and Sinclair on a countdown timer to their maximum number of allowed pre-emptions (we don't know what that is).

Disney is not dealing with 66 individual TV stations. It's dealing with two group owners. The dynamics are the same as dealing with two single-station owners at this stage: "Start clearing Jimmy Kimmel Live in its 11:35/10:35 Central timeslot or you're in breach of your affiliation contract."

Whatever the legal divisions at Nexstar and Sinclair look like, they are no match for Disney's legal talent. The Mouse is famously litigious.

Let's say Nexstar and Sinclair say "no".

The badass move would be for Disney to not shop Kimmel around in the markets, but to immediately file breach of contact suits against Nexstar and Sinclair, with daily compounding damages in the amount ABC has to lower its spot rate to compensate for the lack of clearances in 66 cities.

The suit is a slam-dunk, because Nexstar and Sinclair would be provably in breach. All it would take is one playback of Jimmy's original monologue for a jury whose minds aren't fried from too much FOX News (and that's what voir dire is for) to establish that Nexstar and Sinclair had no defense for their breach.

Thrown in various and sundry assorted damages (the show's reputation, since he didn't say what Nexstar and Sinclair suggested he did in their statements----yes, Jimmy could sue, too---but this would be ABC suing for damages to its half of the intellectual property) and Disney's attorney's fees (they'll make sure to have ALL their best litigators on something like this) and Disney could ruin both Nexstar and Sinclair. Maybe they don't get their deals done because the numbers no longer work.

Disney makes back whatever it lost in ad revenue, plus damages and in one stroke ends the dynamic where a network can be held hostage by two or three big affiliate groups.

Disney's market cap this morning is 201.8 billion. Nexstar's is 6.13 billion. Sinclair's is 1.02 billion.

My bet is Nexstar and Sinclair get Kimmel back on the air after milking the pre-emption as long as they can within the bounds of what the contract allows. They may even try to throw a smoke bomb by getting it back on in "bluer" markets quickly but holding off in "redder" ones and babbling something about "community standards", but if they let it get to court, they're idiots and they deserve what's coming to them.

 

[kwthom]

The C-suite discussions at both Nexstar and Sinclair should be interesting this afternoon.

 

[michael hagerty]

The C-suite discussions at both Nexstar and Sinclair should be interesting this afternoon.

But not anywhere close to what's going on in Horacio's office.

Horacio Gutierrez - The Walt Disney Company

Horacio Gutierrez is Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of The Walt Disney Company. In this role, Mr. Gutierrez serves as the chief legal officer of the Company, overseeing its team of attorneys responsible for all aspects of Disney’s legal affairs...

thewaltdisneycompany.com

That's a face that says "Go ahead. Underestimate me. That'll be fun."

 

[TheBigA]

I watched the monologue. He never admitted to nor apologized for incorrectly saying that the shooter was MAGA.

That's interesting, because Fox News has never admitted to nor apologized for incorrectly saying Dominion voting machines were rigged.

Fox, Dominion reach $787M settlement over election claims

Fox and Dominion Voting Systems have reached a $787 million settlement in the voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit. The agreement averts a trial in a case that exposed how the top-rated network chased viewers by promoting lies about the 2020 presidential election. Dominion lawyer Justin...

apnews.com

And the president has since targeted the law firms that won the decision:

Trump targets Dominion lawyers on same day judge finds Newsmax defamed voting company

Susman Godfrey, which is representing Dominion in its election defamation case against Newsmax, helped the voting software firm obtain a record-setting $787.5m settlement from Fox News in a similar lawsuit

www.independent.co.uk

The FCC has never gone after Fox News is any way, not said their licenses are in jeopardy.

 

[davideduardo]

That's interesting, because Fox News has never admitted to nor apologized for incorrectly saying Dominion voting machines were rigged.

How many voting machines "died" in the reports for that news story?

And Fox made a settlement that is sealed. We don't know what they "admitted" but there were hundreds of millions in "admissions".

And the president has since targeted the law firms that won the decision:

As he has the right to.

The FCC has never gone after Fox News is any way, not said their licenses are in jeopardy.

Fox News owns no stations, although the parent company does. Otherwise, the FCC has no jurisdiction over Fox News

 

[ohdxer]

Kimmel did not air last night on WSYX 6 in Columbus, Ohio and WKEF 22 in Dayton, Ohio. WSYX and WKEF are both owned by Sinclair.

Last night WSYX extended their 11:00 PM local newscast for an hour before switching over to the National News Desk.

According to tonight's tv listings, WSYX and WKEF will be carrying local and national newscasts instead of Kimmel.

It will be interesting to see how long the Kimmel blackout will last on the Sinclair owned stations.

 

[TheBigA]

How many voting machines "died" due to that news story?

Irrelevant to broadcasting. He wasn't talking about Kirk. He clarified that last night.

Conservative talk radio STILL says the 2020 election was rigged. The FCC has never challenged any radio stations on that.

Phil Valentine continued to lie about covid vaccines up until the day he died from covid. The FCC never challenged the station's license.

Jimmy Kimmel isn't a news program. There is no requirement that he be factual. Fox News is different.

 

[lanceventa]

I realize I will get all kinds of negatives, but….

I watched the monologue. He never admitted to nor apologized for incorrectly saying that the shooter was MAGA.

He NEVER said the shooter was MAGA. He said that MAGA was trying to use the shooting to politicize it. It led into a joke about someone asking Trump how he felt but he focusing on the White House renovations.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 from it.”

Now please stop with injecting personal politics into every thread like we have asked others to do time and time again.

 

[Loverofradio]

The bigger question is: Can the networks operate profitably as streaming outlets without licensed affiliated stations?

Absolutely not. Bypassing local tv affiliates to only provide a streaming service would take away millions of viewers. We’re nowhere close to this happening. Plus with the current sports contracts in place, the different leagues would nix that idea immediately

 

[davideduardo]

Irrelevant to broadcasting. He wasn't talking about Kirk. He clarified that last night.

The murder of Charlie Kirk is a news item. Mischaracterizing his shooter is part and parcel of that story.

Jimmy Kimmel isn't a news program. There is no requirement that he be factual.

If you are talking about a news event, however, lying is not a "good practice" and could be the cause of legal or regulatory processes.

 

[TheBigA]

The murder of Charlie Kirk is a news item. Mischaracterizing his shooter is part and parcel of that story.

Once again, tell that to conservative talk radio, who continue to lie about the 2020 election.

Right now, conservative talk shows are mischaracterizing the shooter as part of a left wing conspiracy. That's not true, and the shooter hasn't been charged with anything political. But they keep digging, even though there are no facts.

 

[kevtronics]

The murder of Charlie Kirk is a news item. Mischaracterizing his shooter is part and parcel of that story.

David, give it up already. Kimmel made a joke about "the MAGA gang". You seem to be taking it way too personally, and the only conclusion we can draw from that is that you are part of the MAGA gang... which is ironic, because they don't like your kind. As far as they're concerned, you're all illegal Mexicans... even if you're an American-born U.S. citizen.

 

[davideduardo]

He NEVER said the shooter was MAGA. He said that MAGA was trying to use the shooting to politicize it. It led into a joke about someone asking Trump how he felt but he focusing on the White House renovations.

Please read the actual comment on the original statement where Kimmel said "“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 from it,” Kimmel said in his Monday monologue."

He said that MAGA was trying to characterize the shooter as someone who was not MAGA. That rather clearly means that Kimmel was of the belief that the shooter was, despite evidence to the contrary. Otherwise, why make that statement?

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 from it.”

Exactly. I can not see why such a comment would be made were it not that Kimmel believed that the shooter was MAGA and that MAGA was trying to cover that up. Otherwise, as I just said, why make the statement?

Now please stop with injecting personal politics into every thread like we have asked others to do time and time again.

Not "personal politics" but the sentiment of a large percentage of Americans. These threads are jam-packed with pro-Kimmel statements, and I simply differ with the ethics and focus of the original remarks as well as finding his lengthy statement last night totally devoid of any sense of responsibility over the inaccurate statement he made.

This is a broadcasting subject. A TV host broadcast on one of the three largest OTA networks made a statement that was not true as well as being horrifically biased.

I spent multiple days trying to ignore this subject, reading incredibly offensive comments about Kirk and "the Red side". I have my interpretation of how biased and vile Kimmel's statements were, and that feeling likely represents about half of the country.

Dialog about the point Big A is trying to make wherein he believes that because the Kimmel show is not a newscast there is freedom to make false statements about a news item is worthy of further discussion. One thing is obvious parody a la Saturday Night Live, but another is a comment on a very sad and important news item about a political assassination.

 

[davideduardo]

David, give it up already. Kimmel made a joke about "the MAGA gang". You seem to be taking it way too personally, and the only conclusion we can draw from that is that you are part of the MAGA gang... and are constantly dragging your political views into discussions here.

Read the statement again. Kimmel was not making a joke. He stated that MAGA was trying to cover up that the shooter was MAGA himself.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 from it.”

Oh, and I am a registered Independent who is fairly liberal but not "progressive" on social issues and very conservative on fiscal policies, international relations and the like. I am not "MAGA" for a variety of reasons, but that has noting to do with radio and TV. But don't call me MAGA just because I find Kimmel's statement bad broadcasting.

 

[Mark Roberts]

I realize I will get all kinds of negatives, but….

I watched the monologue. He never admitted to nor apologized for incorrectly saying that the shooter was MAGA.

Realistically, no apology was ever going to happen. The possible outcomes were (1) Disney (ABC) cancels Kimmel altogether, or (2) Disney returns Kimmel to the schedule. Kimmel was very clear that he was not going to apologize.

 

[TheBigA]

Please read the actual comment on the original statement where Kimmel said "“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 from it,” Kimmel said in his Monday monologue."

Here's what the Utah governor said:

“For 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here that it wouldn't be one of us — that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country… Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for… But it did happen here, and it was one of us,” he added.

Was the governor lying? I've listed lots of examples of conservative media lying. The FCC hasn't done anything to them.

 

[davideduardo]

Once again, tell that to conservative talk radio, who continue to lie about the 2020 election.

Again, we are talking about the Kimmel show and the shooting of Charlie Kirk.

Right now, conservative talk shows are mischaracterizing the shooter as part of a left wing conspiracy.

"Conspiracy" no if you look for an actual membership. But it is a conspiracy if you believe that a lot of internet content can polarize people... in a variety of both good and bad ways.

That's not true, and the shooter hasn't been charged with anything political. But they keep digging, even though there are no facts.

Just look at the inscriptions on the bullets. On is right out of Mussolini-era Italian anti-Facism.

 

[tall_guy1]

Read the statement again. Kimmel was not making a joke. He stated that MAGA was trying to cover up that the shooter was MAGA himself.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 from it.”

Oh, and I am a registered Independent who is fairly liberal but not "progressive" on social issues and very conservative on fiscal policies, international relations and the like. I am not "MAGA" for a variety of reasons, but that has noting to do with radio and TV. But don't call me MAGA just because I find Kimmel's statement bad broadcasting.

He wasn't wrong. What he meant was them scrambling to make sure right after to find some kind of blame on the left. He didn't say he was MAGA, just that they were scrambling for facts that he wasn't.