T Dog’s Think Tank: Station groups drop the gloves with the networks over programming

Kimmel dustup showcases a forever battle, one FCC Chairman Carr has taken a side on 

If one were to understand the decision by ABC to temporarily pull Jimmy Kimmel off the air this past week due to the influence of local stations, one would have to look back to the past.

Mirroring the attitude of many Southern network affiliates in the 1950s and 1960s, NBC affiliate WLBT in Jackson, Miss. was a pro-segerationist outlet, pre-empting programming that featured any Black performers, and blacking out any news of the Civil Rights Movement on the network’s newscasts, claiming it was “cable trouble”, with station manager Fred Beard saying he would not air any “Negro propengada”. 

In 1973, more than 40 CBS affiliates turned down an encore episode of Maude due to an abortion storyline, and up to 25 ABC affiliates dropped an episode of Marcus Welby, M.D. a year later due to an episode on homosexuality. 

In the 1990s, several ABC affiliates, notably WFAA Dallas, refused to carry NYPD Blue for its first two seasons, and most recently in 2006, fifteen NBC affiliates dumped controversial religious drama The Book of Daniel.

These examples illustrate the often tense relationship affiliates have with their networks, a forever problem that blew up this week with ABC being forced to suspend Kimmel after he made a joke about Charlie Kirk’s killer. The hand was forced by Nexstar and Sinclair, the two biggest station groups in the country, which grew thanks to deregulation championed by Republicans in the 2000s and are now aligned with the Trump Administration, as they have deals pending with the FCC. 

In recent years, the major networks tightened the reins on how many hours a year they can preempt their programming, how much of a share they should get from the retransmission revenue they earn, and the gradual elimination of network compensation (paying stations to air programming). The years of bottled-up frustration blew up this week like an unattended pressure cooker. 

Several stations have walked away from network life, with the most recent example being former ABC affiliate WPLG Miami, given its headaches with the network, even with high-quality programming like Monday Night Football and Dancing With The Stars, weren’t worth it. 

However, station groups still have clout. In 2006, Fox was forced to scrap an interview with O.J. Simpson to promote his book published by HarperCollins (owned by then-sister company NewsCorp.) If I Didn’t Do It after affiliates rebelled. Plans for Simpson’s book were also shelved. 

Affiliates do have a right to reject programming if they feel it doesn’t reflect their communities. However, we have seen them abuse this privilege for decades, as exemplified by WLBT, and believe stations can sell more local programming with a syndicated show, a practice that was commonplace in the 1980s and 1990s.

With FCC Chairman Brendan Carr now in their corner (he praised Nexstar and Sinclair’s decision to drop Kimmel), the major broadcast networks will have to adjust. It explains why we’re seeing innovative scripted programming shift to streaming as primetime hours are being filled with inexpensive junk, such as game show reboots and boring reality shows. And not surprisingly, viewers are making the shift to streaming with them.

However, the media conglomerates couldn’t care less, given it’s the NFL that pays the bills as it remains the most-watched programming of choice on any network. Yes, there is outrage over Kimmel being sacked, but it would be ten times worse if a network pulls the plug on a Bears game, even if they’re currently 0-2 and Caleb Williams can’t play worth a damn, and explains why the league took a ten percent stake in ESPN. Sunday afternoons in the fall are the new primetime. 

Even worse for the networks, Nexstar and Sinclair are not only their programming partners but are now their competitors when it comes to news. Nexstar launched NewsNation in 2020 as a primetime programming block over WGN America and became a full-fledged cable news network, and acquired 75 percent of The CW in 2022, shifting emphasis away from the young-skewing dramas it was known for. Sinclair airs The National Desk on its CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates, and mandates “must-run” right-wing material on its local newscasts. 

With FCC Chairman Brendan Carr now in their corner, the broadcast groups are seeking more power to preempt programming as they see fit. But given the political discourse in this country, will they preempt shows that some goofy station manager dislikes? With DEI now a dirty word, are we going to see a return to what we saw in the South during the Civil Rights Era? My guess is that had Brendan Carr been Chairman of the FCC in 1971, WLBT and owner Lamar Life Broadcasting would’ve been allowed to keep its broadcast license, as the station was known for discriminating against Black viewers, who make up 35 percent of the Jackson media market. 

Making this more complicated, viewers can easily watch their programming on streaming services. If a local station preempts a show for any reason, they can watch the show the next day, as it would only send more viewers heading for the exits from linear TV. You can only go so far with local news and bargain-basement local programming, and keep in mind the NFL doesn’t air year-round – you also need to attract viewers in March, May, and June.

Since this site was launched 19 years ago this week, I have used the WLBT/Lamar FCC revocation as an example of issues regarding race in television and local stations’ objections to network programming. We had a Macon Ga. local station owner who dropped ABC due to retransmission payments and its programming, and yet didn’t bother to watch the shows on his own station, and I wrote about a scenario where Sinclair could drop The CW’s Black Lightning as the show didn’t reflect their values or the “public interest.”

So while Carr is talking about the “public interest”, what is he really talking about? The interest of some white people as he and the Trump Administration forced studios and station groups to get rid of DEI programs? The interests of Kirk supporters who openly display their racism? It’s little wonder why many viewers have moved on from linear TV, as station groups like Nexstar and Sinclair have destroyed it, so they might as well bring back Fred Beard from the dead to program their stations because to Carr, the “public interest” doesn’t include people of color or LGBTQ communities, and it includes Arlington Heights, but not Ford Heights. 

To Carr, programming in the “public interest” is fine. As long as it doesn’t include any “Negro propaganda”.