The Disney logo is displayed at Walt Disney Studios. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell sent a letter to Sinclair Broadcast Group chief executive Christopher Ripley. The letter, provided to Status, urged the right-wing station owner to restore Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show in Washington state, where Sinclair owns Seattle’s KOMO-TV. Cantwell, voicing “concerns” about Sinclair’s decision to keep preempting the program, wrote that “the First Amendment ensures the freedom of expression and a free press, and our nation’s media landscape needs to embody those ideals.”
It’s unlikely Cantwell’s letter will sway Sinclair, which is currently jockeying to position itself as a better buyer for the local television operator Tegna than Nexstar, whose $6.2 billion acquisition is awaiting Federal Communications Commission approval. Still, her intervention reflects the mounting pressure on local station groups who control ABC’s broadcasts in roughly 25% of the country to return Kimmel to the air now that Disney has ended the comedian's brief suspension.
Earlier in the day, Senate and House Democrats also launched a pair of reviews targeting both Sinclair and Nexstar. In letters to the companies, the lawmakers sought answers from Ripley and Nexstar boss Perry Sook on how their decisions to preempt Kimmel's program "may relate to regulatory issues pending with the Trump administration."
"If you suspended a late-night comedian’s show in part to seek regulatory favors from the administration," wrote the Senate Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren, "you have not only assisted the administration in eroding First Amendment freedoms but also create the appearance of a possible quid-pro-quo arrangement that could implicate federal anti-corruption laws."
Thus far, the pressure from lawmakers has not yielded any change in stance from either company. Nexstar on Wednesday said it is "continuing to evaluate the state" of Kimmel's program, adding that "the show will be preempted while we do so." The company continued, "We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve."
It’s unclear what those discussions with Disney entail, and the Burbank-based entertainment giant declined to comment on the matter.
Still, industry veterans and executives I’ve spoken with expect the dispute will ultimately end with…
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