Yes, they are allowed to not run every network program. They are contractually obligated to carry at least a certain (probably large) percentage of the network’s total schedule, and are particularly encouraged to carry the more high-profile programs, especially in prime-time. There may be some contractual penalties involved if they choose to not run lots of things, but choosing to not run one particular non-prime-time program is generally well within their rights.
Parenthetical: when I was a kid in the late ‘70s in Green Bay, NBC’s Saturday Night Live wasn’t carried on the local NBC affiliate for its first three seasons. The local affiliate argued that the show’s edgy content wasn’t aligned with their viewers’ interests (in a small, fairly conservative market), and so, they didn’t carry SNL for years (instead opting to run old movies in that late-night slot. It wasn’t until SNL had become a bona fide hit and media phenomenon, and the station had gotten enough complaints from their viewers, that they finally started airing it.
How much control do independently owned stations have? Sinclair Group owns/operates 294 television stations, Nexstar owns/operates 200 television stations, and the number of independent television stations is a whopping 88.
Any argument that Kimmel was suspended because the affiliates wanted him gone/punished is dead in the water, as is the excuse that it is they that are demanding he be further punished after ABC took him back.
I don’t know how common my viewing habits are but I never watch the show proper - I just watch the videos posted on YouTube. If that practice is more common than I know than Sinclair will be shit out of luck with their little ionization blackout deal anyway.
I don’t know if it’s being preempted in my neighborhood, but I’m pretty sure I’m in a Sinclair city.
Not only is our Sinclair ABC station not airing Kimmel tonight, they aren’t even reporting anywhere that ABC has put Kimmel back on the air! It looks like FOX has competition when it comes to news repression.
I hope Kimmel comes out swinging. Not angry (because Trump would get a kick out of that and it’s guaranteed he’ll be watching) but calmly, coldly tearing Trump a new one and making a point to say Trump will never silence him. Remind the nation and the world that Kimmel might be the jester but Trump is the clown.
I’m not sure where you’re getting the numbers from.
According to Wikipedia, Sinclair operates 193 television stations; of those, roughly 40 are ABC affiliates.
Nexstar operates 197 stations (not counting the 68 stations owned by Tegna, with which they are planning to merge); of those, roughly 30 of those are ABC affiliates.
ABC has about 250 stations in their overall network: 8 owned-and-operated stations and about 240 affiliates. That’s a similar number to the number of network stations for the others in the “Big 4” (NBC ~230, CBS ~240, Fox ~240).
So, given that:
Between Sinclair and Nexstar, they operate about 28% of all of ABC’s network stations.
Those two companies operate about 40% of the U.S.'s 960 stations for the big four broadcast networks.
The remaining 60% are operated by media companies that are smaller than those two, though still pretty big in the absolute (including Gray, Hearst, Scripps, etc.), as well as, likely, there still being some truly independent ones (i.e., owned by a company which only operates one or two stations).
Are they way too big and way too powerful, even if they still only control a minority of US over-the-air network stations? Definitely. But they do not have a duopoly (not yet, anyway), by any means.
