The suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" has been called censorship and even fascism. I will admit that although what he said was inflammatory that was Kimmel's stock in trade over the past nine years or so. There were rumors that the show was on the chopping block for a while now as viewership dropped. As everyone should realize, TV shows are there to make money for the networks and TV stations that show them. To do so the show needs to reach customers and potential customers for the products that are being advertised on the show.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" has been losing viewership in a dramatic way since it adopted the bashing of Trump and republicans as the base of all it's jokes and dialog. Regardless of what side you are on within the spectrum of political discourse you should recognize that a large percentage of people disagree with you - again, whatever side and/or opinion you have! Kimmel's constant bashing of Donald Trump specifically and the Republicans in general, while at the same time openly supporting the Democratic side has alienated a large portion of the audience that used to tune in.
Let's look at some numbers:
The program averaged 2.4 million viewers in 2015 and has been trending downward ever since. (what happened in 2016? Trump became a serious candidate and then won the Presidency) Kimmel’s program averaged 2.2 million in 2016 and 2017, fell to 2.1 million in 2018, dropped to 1.9 million in 2019 and sunk to 1.8 million in 2020. By 2021, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" managed only 1.5 million nightly viewers.
Kimmel’s 2025 average viewership of 1.6 million is down 37% compared to 2015 totals.
However, the decline is even more significant among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults, ages 25-54. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" averaged nearly 1 million viewers among the critical demo in 2015 but plummeted to only 261,000 in 2025. The ABC late-night program shed a staggering 72% of the audience that helps pay the bills over the past decade.
Remember, TV shows exist to sell advertising and to make money for the networks, the TV stations, and ultimately the advertisers that produce, broadcast, and advertise on these programs. When you are alienating ANY significant portion of the population, that goal is very hard to reach. Late night TV is losing money for most networks. Viewership is down in almost all cases. "The Late Show" with Colbert hosting was reportedly losing Forty million a year! Late nite TV has not been much of a money maker for a decade or more. Some of this can be blamed on this phenomenon of bashing Trump. Some can be blamed on the new world of media that we live in today with streaming accounting for more and more of what is watched. When choosing what to display on that screen in front of your eyes you have tens if not hundreds of choices. Less than a generation ago that was not the case. Your choices had grown, but the networks still dominated. Go back more than a generation and the three (and then four or five) networks were the choice along with some cable channels. The audience total numbers were smaller, but with a smaller number of choices there were a lot of eyeballs watching things like "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.
Speaking of Mr. Carson, here is what he said around the turn of the century twenty-five plus years ago on political speak on an entertainment venue:
I think that is a valid take. If you want to reach the maximum number of viewers and not alienate any significant portion of them, avoid politics and religion as topics except in generalities. Carson did do jokes on the Presidents that were in office when he was doing his show. They were good-natured "ribbing" or making fun of a stumble or mannerism. They were not painting them as "Nazis" or dictators. We all could laugh along with a Presidential gaff, even if we did vote for them.
My personal take on this is somewhat conflicted. I think the suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" was not warranted based on just what he said (more detail below). I do think he is/was a pompous buffoon that made obnoxious and inflammatory remarks with regularity. There is a FCC rule that prohibits the presentation of a lie as fact. Kimmel did do that with his statements about Kirk's killer. (by the time he made his "joke" it was known that the killer was NOT a right-wing follower but a sometimes Antifa member who lived with a transitioning male partner....his partner is a person born male transitioning to female - if I stated that wrong it was not to inflame, just lack of knowledge) I think that market forces would have caused a change in programming soon anyway. ABC, even with the Disney money behind them, cannot support a show that is losing money. My guess is there was hope with Colbert going off-air next season that would open up some viewers to switch to "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and raise the numbers to a more acceptable level. As I stated, I have no personal knowledge of this, it is just an opinion.
One last comment on this: Freedom of Speech is to protect what is said (within reason - we all know the famous "FIRE" yelled in a theater trope) from being suppressed by the government. It does not apply to businesses. If what you or I say is detrimental to a business and negatively affects their operation, that business can prohibit your speech in the performance of your duties. For example, if a server at Cracker Barrel had told every customer that they would not spend money at Cracker Barrel because they were changing their logo and were going "woke", Cracker Barrel could tell the employee to stop that and could discipline them even up to firing them in most cases. (I know employment laws and unions come into play in many jurisdictions, this is just an example) ABC/Disney had every right to ask Kimmel to stop with his rhetoric as it was affecting business. Had it been discussed previously? I do not know. But, if it was the suspension may have already been on the table.
There are many more places I can take this, but they go a bit off-track so I will end it here.
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