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President Donald Trump celebrated Disney-owned ABC\u2019s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Wednesday night,\u00a0 congratulating ABC on \u201cfinally having the courage to do what needs to be done.\u201d Trump also posted<\/a> on his platform, incorrectly, that Kimmel\u2019s show had been \u201ccancelled.\u201d The president continued posting, indicating he wants to reshape late-night TV.<\/p>\n Trump used the suspension \u2013 which happened after an ABC affiliate revolt over Kimmel\u2019s criticisms of conservatives\u2019 response to the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk \u2013 to double down on his feud with late-night television broadly, targeting Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as \u201ctwo total losers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTheir ratings are also horrible,\u201d Trump posted<\/a> on his platform, TruthSocial. \u201cDo it NBC!!!\u201d<\/p>\n But Robert Thompson of Syracuse University, a widely cited multimedia and downright entertainment savant, told Fortune the suspension can\u2019t be explained by ratings alone.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t pull a midweek show that\u2019s already booked because of ratings,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s not how networks operate.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite Trump\u2019s call, the move to pull Kimmel off the air was not just a network decision: it was driven by a revolt from Nexstar and Sinclair<\/a>, companies that control dozens of ABC affiliate stations, only hours after Kimmel\u2019s controversial show aired. Disney-owned ABC responded by suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! Indefinitely.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was one of the fastest exertions of station power I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cBack in the NYPD Blue days, some affiliates refused to air it, but ABC kept the show going. This time, ABC pulled the plug itself.\u201d<\/p>\n Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr described the affiliates\u2019 refusal to air Kimmel\u2019s program as a \u201cturning point\u201d for legacy media.<\/p>\n \u201cThis action today by Nexstar and Sinclair, frankly, it\u2019s unprecedented,\u201d Carr said on Hannity Wednesday. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine another time when we\u2019ve had local broadcasters tell a national programmer like Disney that your content no longer meets the needs and the values of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Carr also warned that further regulatory scrutiny could follow. In a separate interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, he suggested the FCC might review Kimmel\u2019s comments under potential \u201cnews distortion\u201d provisions.<\/p>\n \u201cAny license granted by us at the FCC comes with an obligation to operate in the public interest,\u201d Carr said, adding that Kimmel\u2019s remarks about Kirk\u2019s suspected killer seemed like an \u201cintentional effort to mislead the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n Kimmel faced backlash after his Sept. 15 episode, where he said, among other things, \u201c[w]e 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Seizing on the controversy, Trump took a victory lap, hailing Kimmel\u2019s suspension as \u201cgreat news for America\u201d and calling him a man of \u201czero talent.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump has long hated many late-night talk show hosts, who have made him the butt of their joke-filled monologues for years. In August, Trump had dismissed Stephen Colbert as \u201ctalentless\u201d shortly before CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert after a decade-long run.<\/p>\n CBS cited the excessive expense of the show despite Colbert leading in the ratings; it also came against the backdrop of CBS\u2019 parent company, Paramount, winning regulatory approval for its takeover by Skydance, a company owned by David Ellison, the son of Trump ally Larry Ellison, the Oracle<\/a> billionaire and second-richest man in the world. Paramount settled a Trump lawsuit over the editing of a commercial for a 60 Minutes news story that aired during the 2024 presidential campaign, while the deal was pending approval. ABC, for its part, has already made a similar settlement with the Trump administration.<\/p>\nTrump seizes opportunity to broaden his feud<\/strong><\/h2>\n