In the 1990s, ABC faced a revolt from conservative affiliates, and a young executive named Bob Iger stood up to them \u2014 and won.<\/p>\n
What a difference 30 years, wholesale media consolidation and threats from a thin-skinned president with no regard for the First Amendment make.<\/p>\n
More from TheWrap<\/strong><\/p>\n As the president of ABC Entertainment and subsequently the ABC Broadcast Group in the \u201990s, Iger scheduled \u201cNYPD Blue,\u201d whose boundary-pushing content prompted a revolt by 57 ABC stations that initially refused to air it; and \u201cEllen,\u201d which generated controversy over star Ellen DeGeneres coming out as a lesbian, both personally and as part of the show on its famous \u201cThe Puppy Episode.\u201d One station, in Alabama, balked at airing that.<\/p>\n Now the head of Walt Disney Co., which he has guided for more than 20 years, Iger is dealing with another crisis while playing a much weaker hand. The public relations disaster began Wednesday, when ABC \u201cindefinitely\u201d preempted \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d after a pressure campaign launched by the Trump administration that prompted two major affiliate owners, Nexstar and Sinclair, to announce they wouldn\u2019t air the late night program.<\/p>\n Having already blinked, figuring out how ABC might bring Kimmel back falls squarely on Disney\u2019s executive suite, which is being understandably buffeted by criticism from all sides, from politicians and pundits to Kimmel\u2019s fellow stand-up comedians, along with the Writers Guild of America and other Hollywood groups.<\/p>\n For Iger, 74, this challenge has emerged at the twilight of his career and in the process of choosing a successor, although the tumult surrounding Disney might make one wonder why his top lieutenants would be lining up for such a thankless job, the perks and pay notwithstanding.<\/p>\n Notably, Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden, who oversees ABC, is one of Iger\u2019s potential replacements, a decision the company has stated will come in early 2026.<\/p>\n Disney didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n While running a studio has never been easy, the degree of difficulty has been ratcheted up during Trump\u2019s second term, thanks in part to his relentless attacks on media and the willingness of his handpicked Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, to do his bidding.<\/p>\n The regulatory process governing broadcast television has created additional pressure points.<\/p>\n Specifically, TV station owner Nexstar announced a $6.2 billion merger with another major station group, Tegna, in August, potentially creating a giant that would control 265 stations reaching 132 of the nation\u2019s 210 TV markets. But approving such a deal would require that the FCC relax its existing cap on the percentage of the country a single owner can reach.<\/p>\n Those regulatory objectives have made both Nexstar and Sinclair especially vulnerable to the threats that Carr has directed at broadcasters, which critics see as little more than an attempt to silence voices \u2014 including comedians \u2014 that speak ill of Trump.<\/p>\n Dozens of ABC affiliates initially balked at airing \u201cNYPD Blue,\u201d which went on to run for 11 seasons. (ABC)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n FCC commissioner Anna M. Gomez summed up how antithetical that is to both First Amendment values and the commission\u2019s mandate, stating, \u201cThis FCC does not have the authority, the ability or the constitutional right to police content or punish broadcasters for speech the government dislikes.\u201d<\/p>\n Then again, the professed outrage over Kimmel\u2019s monologue regarding the killer of activist Charlie Kirk appears to many like a transparent means of achieving those ends. Trump himself has seemingly given that game away on multiple occasions, including his statements to reporters Thursday, in which he complained again about how unfair the late-night hosts have been to him, while confusing where broadcasting licenses reside.<\/p>\n As for the FCC guidelines, and the regulatory changes the station groups seek, Jessica Gonzalez, co-CEO of the free-speech advocacy group Free Press, posted on Bluesky that the fact that the media system has \u201cbecome so concentrated that it cannot stand up to authoritarianism is a policy failure.\u201d<\/p>\n Media companies, including Disney, have thus far shown themselves willing to settle lawsuits filed by Trump in the vain hope it would make such concerns go away \u2014 a posture that looks increasingly naive with each new concession.<\/p>\n Disney already agreed to pay $15 million in December after Trump brought a lawsuit against ABC News regarding the language that anchor George Stephanopoulos used in describing the defamation verdict won against Trump by E. Jean Carroll.<\/p>\n Yet if corporate leaders like Iger hoped that payoffs would mollify Trump, or at least keep him at bay, they have rather appeared to embolden him. Just this week, Trump referenced the ABC settlement as he raged at ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl, indicating that he might \u201cgo after\u201d him as well. (As a footnote it\u2019s worth noting Iger\u2019s wife, Willow Bay, is an ABC News alum and the dean of USC\u2019s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.)<\/p>\n Speaking at The Atlantic Festival Thursday, late night icon David Letterman summed up, more than anything, Trump\u2019s underlying pettiness, saying, \u201cThe institution of the president of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show.\u201d<\/p>\n