Will the FCC now pull Disney's bcast license?

[Sibelius Fan]

Things could get interesting.

[hlthe2b]

1. Disney has streaming services (no license) and owns ABC (networks are not licensed, local affilates are)

So, yes, they could go for the Sinclair or Nexstar affiliates, but not ABC. Obviously, the latter would have a major impact as well.

[appmanga]

10. And they won't go after Sinclair or Nexstar...

...because they're propaganda arms that also enrich friends of the regime.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

2. That's not how it works

Affiliate stations are the ones with the broadcast licenses granted by the FCC.

What I'm wondering is if the Nexstar and Sinclair owned stations will broadcast Kimmel once he returns.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. If Enough Viewers Complain...

...and if ad revenues fall, the ownership will suddenly believe they overreacted. Like they don't already know they did.
If nobody complains & ad revenues don't fall, people in those markets probably weren't watching Jimmy anyway. So, no loss for ABC or Kimmel.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

4. Agree

Although if an affiliate doesn't air it, I don't think they have to pay ABC for the content, so perhaps a small loss for ABC. No loss to Kimmel as he gets paid either way.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Probably

But, I wonder if there are "take or pay" clauses in those contracts.
We had them on contracts for supply of active ingredient.
Customer got a price based on promising 50 million pounds. The contract might say if they don't buy that much, the price reverts to list.
So, I know companies put those sort of things in contracts.
Let's hope that's true here.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

8. I don't want anyone or any show forced off the air...

...due to government pressure, ever.

At the same time, if a local affiliate doesn't want to air a particular show or person because their local community doesn't want it, I have no issue with that. It's all ruled by money, so the affiliates are going to do what works best for them financially, and I'm ok with that.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Agreed

The guy who issued this threat should be forbidden to ever hold any government position.
A clear abuse of authority.

[Diraven]

5. The quid pro quo

They made a completely illegal deal with the FCC to refuse to broadcast Kimmel as a condition for Carr to approve the Tegna merger. It was never about what Kimmel said, they just say their chance to suck up to Trump and took it. Will be interesting to see if they stick with that pledge.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

6. And you know this for a fact how?

I know that Nexstar has a deal coming up, but does Sinclair?

[Diraven]

11. Sinclair wants the same merger

They proposed basically the same merger with Tegna just last month that Nexstar wants. The FCC gets to pick which one wins.

[Bluetus]

12. No. There is no such thing .

FCC regulates the radio frequency spectrum. That has nothing to do with the networks. Individual stations are separately owned, and they are the ones who need FCC licenses.