Chapter 1: What breaking news is affecting the political landscape in America?
This is the Dan Levitar Show with the Stugatz Podcast.
Before we get to Brian Stelter to talk about Jimmy Kimmel, these are obviously really turbulent times all over America. And there is danger and chaos and violence everywhere. Mike, what is the breaking news now on what's happening with ICE and the state militia that we are weaponizing? Well, details are still going in, and we want to be responsible because I saw Chrissy Noem and J.D.
Vance also went to Twitter probably a little too soon to send out a certain message. But there was a shooting at a Dallas ICE facility. Two detainees at this facility are dead. One is injured. The suspect is dead.
Chapter 2: How did public outcry influence Jimmy Kimmel's return to ABC?
Still coming over the news cycle, but according to social media, these shots were fired from a nearby rooftop. There are things being weaponized and political conversations immediately happening after violence and death because the content mill is something that is fed too quickly before we even have a chance to process, never mind getting to mourning.
But with Jeffrey Epstein and with Jimmy Kimmel, we have found at least two issues where it seems like most Americans are pretty close to united. And in the case of Kimmel, this feels like a situation where public outcry made Disney do something that Disney didn't want to do. So Brian Stelter is the former media correspondent for the New York Times and Vanity Fair.
He's got three best-selling books, Top of the Morning, Hoax, and Network of Lies, and he's the current CNN media analyst. Brian, in your reporting, what is it that has happened over the last four days? Was it simply that everyone started canceling Hulu and Disney subscriptions?
Yeah.
Chapter 3: What role does audience pressure play in media decisions?
It's more complicated, but I do believe people dropping those subscriptions did make a difference. Let's start from the premise that Disney always wanted to bring Kimmel back on the show. It's not as if the executives who run Disney, like Bob Iger, the CEO, and his deputy Dana Walden, it's not like they're secret Trumpers who are big fans of MAGA media and want to turn ABC into Fox News.
That is far from the case. All right, Bob Iger donates to Democrats. He thought about running for president against Trump. Dana Walden is known for being best buds with Kamala Harris. These executives not only love Jimmy Kimmel personally, they are also politically in, I would say, some sort of sync with Jimmy Kimmel. But they looked around, they react very quickly to pressure last week.
And that's what they did, right?
Chapter 4: How does Brian Stelter analyze Jimmy Kimmel's recent monologue?
They reacted by pulling the show and they wanted to find a path forward. It took them a few days. And I think the audience pressure, Dan, the consumer pressure, it did make a big difference, but they always wanted to bring the show back anyway.
You're sure about that? Because the original reporting I saw on that, it seemed like people were saying that indefinite was likely to become he wasn't coming back. You're sure about that?
Well, look, I was skeptical. I thought it was unlikely his show was going to be back on broadcast TV because I was thinking to myself, these station owners were not going to let it go back. They were too fearful of the Trump administration. They were too concerned about pressure from Trump and Brendan Carr.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of Disney's relationship with Jimmy Kimmel?
I think it is important there was this groundswell of public concern, all these free speech groups, all these First Amendment experts, all of these random ordinary consumers, right? All these protesters outside Disneyland. It's never a good look for Disney when you have free speech protesters outside Disneyland.
So, yeah, I think this story was unique in some ways amid all the other Trump controversies because it did create so much outrage and backlash. And yes, I do think that made a difference. We don't know for sure, right, what Disney was thinking. We don't know what the bottom line impact of the cancellations were.
But I think what we do know for sure is that these executives love Jimmy Kimmel, they wanted the show to be back, and they decided by Monday the temperature had cooled down enough that they could do it, they could bring him back. And now, here's the thing, right? Kimmel's more powerful than ever because he's been explicitly approved and backed up by ABC.
Chapter 6: How does the media landscape compare between the U.S. and Hungary?
Nextar Media and Sinclair, though, are still in a position as affiliate owners where Kimmel isn't airing everywhere. Can you please tell me what the consequences and what the cost of that is and if that's going to change?
Normally, we would say, The Next Star and Sinclair total, they represent about 20% of the markets across the US where Kimmel show airs. So normally, we would say, wow, 20% of the viewers can't watch Kimmel. That's going to mean a ratings hit. That's going to mean the ratings are going to drop. That's going to be a big, big, bad problem for ABC. But not in this case, right?
Because more than 20% of an additional audience poured in last night.
Chapter 7: What strategies do media companies have against political pressure?
I can say that without even seeing the ratings yet. Clearly, there's so much interest in this story that Kimmel and ABC are benefiting from a surge of viewer interest. So, yes, in Seattle and Washington and in some smaller markets, people were not able to watch the show at 11.35. But those viewers are just gonna work a little harder. They're gonna go to YouTube or Hulu or Disney+.
They're gonna watch the monologue this morning. And you know that monologue is getting millions of views per hour on YouTube right now. It is already, by 8 a.m. Eastern, it was already Kimmel's most watched YouTube video of the year. Not surprisingly.
Chapter 8: What future challenges might Jimmy Kimmel face in his career?
You know, everybody wanted to hear what he was gonna say. So, Nexstar and Sinclair, they don't hold a lot of cards right now. They can continue to protest Kimmel's show, but ABC has contracts with these companies and they're going to probably start to enforce those contracts.
Here is some of what it is that Kimmel said last night. He was emotional when talking during his monologue, an unusual monologue that was probably twice as long as it usually is. Let's play some of that sound for Brian and get his reaction.
Yes. it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man I don't think there's anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion. And I meant it. I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.
That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you're upset. If the situation was reversed, there's a good chance I'd have felt the same way.
I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to even though we don't agree on politics at all. I don't think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and It isn't, ever.
Brian, what were your thoughts on his monologue last night? Number one, he's trying to say, I am not, he's trying to say, I, Jimmy Kimmel, am not anti-Republican. I am not against you, conservative America. He is clearly against President Trump, but he was almost trying to split off Trump and Trump's aberrant behavior from the rest of the party and the rest of the movement.
He was offering condolences to Erica Kirk. He was complimenting and praising Erica Kirk's speech over the weekend, her tribute to her late husband. He was trying to offer a little bit of a bridge or an on-ramp to conservatives while at the same time making clear he's going to continue to satirize Donald Trump. He's gonna continue to speak out against the administration.
So I think he said exactly what ABC wanted him to say. You know, ABC wanted him to acknowledge the controversy, wanted him to try to extend maybe an olive branch of some sort. And Kimmel did just that. And I think it was genuine. It seemed genuine to me.
Oh, but when you say he said exactly what Disney wanted him to say, I disagree. When he went into his pocket and said, I have only one condition on my return that Disney has forced on me. And he just said, here's how you stop canceling your Hulu subscription. That's funny. Yes, I don't.
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