FCC’s Jimmy Kimmel-Triggered Review Of ABC Station Licenses Criticized By Top Broadcast Trade Group

The National Association of Broadcasters is criticizing Donald Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for its scrutiny of Disney and ABC over a joke by Jimmy Kimmel.

In a statement Wednesday, the head of the top industry trade group said Carr’s move to initiate an early review of the ABC stations’ licenses “creates significant uncertainty” for broadcasters. Carr for more than a year has maintained that major media companies are breaching their “public interest obligations” in various ways.

A mock-roast delivered by Kimmel last Friday, 24 hours before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, included a joke that First Lady Melania Trump had the “glow of an expectant widow.” Given the attempt on Trump’s life at the WHCD, Trump, the First Lady and other Republicans have called for Kimmel’s firing, accusing him of fomenting political violence.

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