Disney’s decision to suspend late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, and then rapidly return him to the air, laid bare some of the larger issues the company is facing, especially with its two largest ABC affiliate owners, Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcasting. While Kimmel returned to the air on most stations, Sinclair and Nexstar refused to allow Kimmel back on their airwaves until later in the week.

Credit: ABC
Even before this, Nexstar and Sinclair were pressuring FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to investigate the relationship between affiliate owners and the parent company. What they were hoping for was more autonomy in deciding what gets put on their airwaves and a say over national programming to ensure it meets their standards.

Now, with the Kimmel saga in the rearview mirror, Sinclair and Nexstar are getting their wish. Carr announced that the FCC would launch an investigation into the relationship between affiliates and networks, specifically examining contractual restrictions that penalize stations for preempting shows and those that prevent them from airing rival programming.

Credit: Video Screenshot, ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’, CBS

“The FCC has an obligation to ensure that local broadcast TV stations meet their public interest obligations,” Carr wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Yet National Programmers operating out of New York & Hollywood are reportedly preventing those broadcasters from serving their local communities—including by punishing them for exercising their right to preempt national programming.”

While this is just an investigation, the FCC’s decision could have a sweeping impact on Disney and its linear television networks. Conceivably, a change in this ruling could allow local affiliates to preempt any shows they deem inappropriate without punishment from the network and could enable them to create their own local programming without fear of repercussions from the network.

Credit: Video Screenshot, FCC Open Meeting/ABC Promotional Image

The FCC is also investigating the network’s use of streaming services to increase its subscribers at the expense of local affiliates. So, for example, when Disney shifts its programming the next day to Disney+, Nexstar and Sinclair feel that it hurts their business by taking away viewers from linear cable.

At this point, this is just an investigation, and no formal changes have been announced; however, there is potential for wide-ranging changes to the partnership between local affiliates and their networks, something the two largest owners of ABC affiliates have been attempting to achieve for years.

Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flickr (Donald Trump) / Inside the Magic
So, while Disney appeared to win the battle over Jimmy Kimmel, they may eventually end up losing the war to Sinclair and Nexstar in the coming years.