The role of the FCC and when or how it should police broadcast content has risen to the forefront in the wake of the suspension of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel. Commissioner Anna Gomez is speaking out on her thoughts on the matter.
While speaking at the Media Trends Live Summit 2025 with Axios, FCC Commissioner Gomez shared that the situation is a complex one, but not for the reasons some observers might think.
“It is a very hard standard to meet to revoke a license, which is why it’s so rarely done,” she said.
Her comments come after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened action against ABC after Jimmy Kimmel argued that the assassin of Charlie Kirk was a member of the Make America Great Again movement, and laughing at the reaction from President Donald Trump to Kirk’s death.
In an appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast, Commissioner Carr said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” ABC subsequently announced Kimmel’s suspension hours later, after affiliate ownership groups Sinclair and Nexstar announced they would pre-empt his late-night program.
Carr later championed the moves from Sinclair and Nexstar, stating that they did “the right thing” and took “quick action” to being “responsive to the needs and values of the local communities you serve.” He concluded by noting his hope that “other broadcasters follow” the lead set forth by those two entities.
Gomez noted that those media companies recognize the importance of their broadcast licenses, and that’s why “the pressure is on those local broadcasters.”
“We issue licenses for eight-year terms,” Gomez said. “We are nowhere near the expiration of any licenses. So these threats are truly empty. We don’t have the ability to actually take these actions. But it’s the threat and the enforcement threat that is the point. It is to get capitulation as soon as possible.
“And when you see so much capitulation by the corporate parents, it’s really disappointing. Because every time they capitulate rather than show courage, what they are doing is eroding our democracy and our First Amendment freedoms.”
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