ABC’s handling of the Jimmy Kimmel situation shows exactly how the media business operates in 2025. When the FCC cracked down on Kimmel after his comments aimed at the Trump administration, it looked like the network had no choice but to pull him off the air. But after a week of backlash, pressure from viewers, and an undeniable ratings spike, ABC put Kimmel back in his usual spot.
That decision wasn’t made in a vacuum. It was a calculation, rooted less in morality and more in the realities of the attention economy.
We now live in an attention economy. Outrage, controversy, notoriety, and infamy have become as valuable as quality, creativity, and talent. In fact, sometimes they’re more valuable. If attention is the true currency, you’re almost forced to lean into it.
ABC leaned in, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! saw its largest audience ever because of the controversy. That doesn’t happen because people want to hear safe late-night jokes about TikTok trends or the weather. It happens because people want to see the fireworks.
That lesson won’t be lost on other media outlets. CNN and MSNBC have long sparred with the Trump administration, but they now have more incentive than ever to almost purposely run afoul of it. The White House denounces a host, cable news books panels about it, social media erupts, and suddenly an otherwise average Tuesday night becomes a potential ratings bonanza. It’s the kind of cycle that only strengthens the belief that all press is good press, and bad press — in many cases — is better than no press at all.
ABC may want you to think reinstating Kimmel was simply “the right thing to do.” That’s only part of the story. Viewers had made it clear in the days after his suspension that they were willing to punish Disney, ABC’s parent company, in a way that executives couldn’t ignore.
Plenty of users shared screenshots of canceled Disney+ and Hulu accounts, stating outright that the company had folded under pressure from the FCC and President Trump. Losing streaming subscribers is losing recurring revenue. In 2025, no company can afford to give up recurring revenue just to stay on the administration’s good side, even if that company hopes the same administration will rubber-stamp a deal between ESPN and NFL Network worth hundreds of millions..
So ABC made the smart business call. They didn’t just put Jimmy Kimmel back on air. They made him a symbol of standing up to political pressure, even if their first instinct was to cave to it. And while it may seem cynical, the network will reap the benefits of both sides. They can position themselves as champions of free expression while quietly celebrating the ratings windfall that the controversy always seems to deliver.
The broader lesson here is that no outlet is immune from the gravitational pull of attention. In an era where everything is measured — ratings, clicks, shares, subscriptions — what matters most isn’t whether people agree with you. What matters is whether they’re watching, reacting, and amplifying your message. That’s why so many hosts and personalities don’t shy away from controversy. They almost need it to stay relevant.
There’s a danger in all of this, of course. When every decision is filtered through the lens of attention, journalism risks becoming performance. News becomes less about what happened and more about how loudly you can shout it. Entertainment becomes less about quality storytelling and more about who you can offend. But in the end, it’s hard to argue with the incentives.
ABC and Jimmy Kimmel didn’t set out to spark a national conversation about the FCC, Trump, or censorship. Yet that’s exactly what happened. And because the attention economy rewards controversy, everyone involved walked away with more than they had before. ABC got record ratings, Kimmel got vindication, and the public got another example of how blurred the lines have become.
In journalism, you never want to be the story. But the norms, rules, laws, and usual decorum always seem to be in a state of flux, with the lines constantly being blurred. Ultimately, you have to do what you have to do. And if pissing off the President in hopes that it creates a Streisand Effect is how you have to draw eyeballs in 2025, don’t you have an obligation to do so?
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
ABC did not stand up for anyone’s rights and no one thinks them putting Kimmel back in the air was a stand for anyone’s rights. ABC’s image had taken a huge hit. The only reason Kimmel is back in sir is due to those who unsubscribed from Disney and Hulu, those who stopped buying from ABc sponsors, etc. ABC only caved for monetary reasons.