SiriusXM radio personality Howard Stern came to the defense of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday, siding with his long-time friend in a drawn-out dispute involving ABC and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Stern appeared on Kimmel’s program on Wednesday, part of a multi-day road show tour of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, which is broadcasting from Brooklyn this week.
Stern recounted rumors published by some newspapers that claimed Kimmel may not renew his contract with ABC, which the network has disputed. ABC has disputed recent reports suggesting the network might not renew him, describing the speculation as premature.
“There is no man more loyal to this company than this guy,” Stern said. “He has done everything for the company. And I hope that they keep that in mind.”
The rumors were fanned in part by ABC’s ongoing battle with the FCC on a number of issues, including whether interviews with a Texas senate candidate aired earlier in the year are exempt from the agency’s political equal time rules.
That rule requires licensed broadcasters to set aside an equitable amount of time to political candidates for a race when their competitors appear on a TV show, unless that program involves news content. Jimmy Kimmel Live! and other network talk shows have long been considered news programs thanks to an exemption given to a late night program on NBC in the mid-1990s, but FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, appointed by President Donald Trump last year, has considered narrowing the scope of that exemption.
Carr has criticized Kimmel numerous times in the past, including over the comedian’s monologue immediately after political activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot. Carr’s criticism prompted two broadcasters, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair, Inc., to pull Kimmel’s show from their ABC affiliates for more than a week. At the time, Nexstar and Sinclair had pending business deals that required the FCC’s approval.
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