A ratings spike, then a free fall
Behind the Kimmel suspension saga: fading broadcast power & a tired late night format
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“I think this will be looked back on as the moment when broadcast officially died.”
You heard the headlines. We walk you through the mechanics. What the FCC can do, what it cannot, how a podcast comment turned into affiliate pressure, and why Disney blinked. This is not a standards and practices story. It is a power and incentives story.
and I unpack the Jimmy Kimmel suspension mess and what it really says about late night TV and the direction of travel for broadcast TV at large. Kimmel’s return drew a ratings spike, but within 48 hours he had shed 64 percent of his audience. Should he go all in on YouTube?
These drops tell you more than the suspension itself: the audience was only here for the headline moment regardless of the medium. This isn’t just a distribution problem, the late night format needs reinvention.
We then dig into how Europe is moving in the opposite direction and how the next wave of M&A could reshape HBO, CNN, and the studio libraries everyone wants.
If you want to understand where Kimmel, audiences and ad dollars should go next, you need to hear this one.
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If you have time for one podcast only, let’s make it The Media Odyssey Podcast, produced with love from Amsterdam & NY.
That’s it for today but before you go:
