MRC President David Bozell joined The Joe Concha Tunnel to Towers Foundation Show Sunday morning to break down the real reason ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel didn’t get suspended for bad jokes; he got fired for lying. If he wasn’t lying, his bubble is such a left-wing cocoon that he didn’t know what he said was patently false. That’s why he’s suffering this fate. Affiliates want to preserve their business and customers, who are saying, 'Stop beaming this guy into my screen. I’m not paying for this anymore. I’m going to cut the cord and go to Charlie’s network, Joe Concha’s streaming podcast, or Tucker’s network to be informed and entertained.' There are options now.
Bozell explained to Concha's national audience Kimmel's suspension wasn't about free speech. "There's an old adage in the television business: keep the affiliates happy," Bozell said.
"Yes, Jimmy Kimmel has the freedom to say whatever he wants, but from a business perspective, he has to keep the affiliates happy. If you’re going to lie or woefully misinform your audience and then be given the opportunity to correct the record—and according to the Hollywood Reporter, he wanted to double down on it instead of correcting it—the affiliates really have no choice. There are about 120 markets across the country, and about 60 of them told ABC. No más. We don’t want to put up with this guy anymore. Our customers are cutting the cord, and we’re in the cord preservation business."
Listen to the full interview here.
