Photo: Randy Holmes/Disney

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension saga may have a second life—this time in front of federal regulators.

On Wednesday, the FCC opened a new review of how much power TV networks have over their local affiliates, asking whether companies like ABC should be allowed to pressure their stations into carrying national programming. The move comes less than two months after two large right-leaning affiliate groups—Nexstar and Sinclair—blacked out Jimmy Kimmel Live! across dozens of markets, even after ABC reinstated Kimmel following his brief September suspension.

The filing doesn’t mention Kimmel by name, but it comes in the wake of intense public criticism from Donald Trump’s handpicked FCC chair Brendan Carr, who condemned Kimmel’s remarks at the time and warned broadcasters about “regulatory consequences.”

That backdrop helped fuel the September blackout, which saw Nexstar and Sinclair pull the show for several days beyond ABC’s suspension before backing down under the weight of affiliation agreements that protect access to high-value programming like the NFL.

The FCC now wants to know whether those kinds of contractual levers amount to networks exercising “undue influence,” and whether the balance between national programmers and local licensees still resembles the public-interest model broadcasting is supposed to operate under.

The last time regulators tackled this question was during the George W. Bush administration. Streaming barely existed. Station groups weren’t the regional mini-empires they are today. And late-night shows didn’t routinely trigger national political dust-ups.

The FCC is accepting public comments on the proceeding through Dec. 10, with replies due Dec. 24. After that, the agency could choose to issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking—the step that would kick off concrete rule changes—but no hearings or public workshops have been scheduled.