(H. Armstrong Roberts/Getty Images)

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension highlights Nexstar and Sinclair’s vast control over US airwaves

Nexstar and Sinclair control large swaths of US television stations. Nexstar’s planned merger could make their influence even greater.

Max Knoblauch

9/18/25 3:52PM

On Wednesday evening, Disney’s ABC announced its shocking decision to yank Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show off the air.

An ABC spokesperson on Wednesday said that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be “preempted indefinitely” following comments Kimmel made on his show Monday linking the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk to President Trump’s MAGA movement.

Disney’s decision — which was strongly condemned by several Democratic lawmakers, entertainment unions, and actors — came after a fierce pressure campaign from FCC Chair Brendan Carr as well as two of the country’s largest TV broadcasting groups, Nexstar and Sinclair Inc., which each own several ABC affiliate stations across the US.

The move, which Carr praised as “unprecedented” in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Wednesday night, highlights the vast market control wielded by Nexstar and Sinclair.

According to media analytics company Nielsen, there are 210 designated television markets in the US. Nexstar, the owner of NewsNation and CW, says it owns or partners with more than 200 television stations in 116 of them. Sinclair’s business reportedly includes 178 stations in 81 markets. In a press release on Wednesday, Sinclair referred to itself as “the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group.”

Both Nexstar and Sinclair significantly expanded their market share in Trump’s first term through multibillion-dollar acquisitions. In 2019, Sinclair acquired 21 regional sports networks from Disney in a $10.6 billion deal. Regulators approved Nexstar’s $4.1 billion takeover of Tribune Media in the same year.

Last month, Nexstar announced a $6.2 billion merger agreement with rival Tegna, which owns 64 US stations. The two companies reportedly overlap in 35 US markets, which could potentially garner regulator scrutiny.

The upcoming merger has many critics noting parallels to the cancellation of CBS’s top-rated “Late Night with Stephen Colbert” in July, which came amid the merger of Paramount Skydance. At the time, Paramount called the move a “financial decision.”

Trump celebrated the cancellation in a post on Truth Social, writing, “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.”

In another post Wednesday night, the president referred to Kimmel’s suspension as “great news for America.”

“That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC,” the president wrote, adding, “Do it NBC!!!”

The Nexstar and Sinclair deals have given both companies a remarkable amount of control over what sorts of messages make it across the air, and, clearly, a strong position to wield influence over even the world’s largest entertainment companies.

Max Knoblauch8h

GM climbs following upgrade, report that Trump administration seeks stake in its lithium mine partner

Shares of General Motors rose more than 2% in premarket trading Wednesday following an upgrade of the stock by UBS from “neutral” to “buy.” The firm also hiked its price target for GM by 45% to $81.

Also likely elevating GM was a Reuters report that the Trump administration is exploring taking a 10% stake in Lithium Americas, the automaker’s partner in a yet to open Thacker Pass lithium mine. Shares of Lithium Americas surged 68% in the premarket.

GM, which invested $625 million into the lithium mine last year, holds a 38% stake in the joint venture. The mine is expected to become the Western Hemisphere’s primary lithium source in 2028, when it’s slated to open, producing enough of the metal to make 800,000 electric vehicle batteries.

Prior to its plans for Lithium Americas, the Trump administration last month said it would take a 10% stake in Intel. In July, it announced a 15% stake in rare earths miner MP Materials.

Jon Keegan

9/17/25

Senator Mark Kelly wants AI companies to pay into a fund to offset AI’s negative impacts

The proposal would use money from top frontier AI companies to create an “AI Horizon Fund” to help retrain workers and pay for infrastructure upgrades in a “public / private partnership.”

Max Knoblauch9/16/25

Delta dips as the Trump administration orders the end of its joint venture with Aeromexico

Shares of Delta Air Lines ticked down on Tuesday morning following the Trump administration’s order that the airline dissolve its approximately 9-year-old joint venture with Aeromexcio by January 1, 2026.

Delta said it was disappointed in the decision, adding that the termination will “cause significant harm to U.S. jobs, communities and consumers traveling between the U.S. and Mexico.” CEO Ed Bastian previously said that the administration’s regulatory stance could be a “breath of fresh air” for the aviation industry.

The Biden administration tentatively decided last year to not renew the antitrust immunity agreement covering the joint venture. At the time, Delta said “$800 million in annual consumer benefits would evaporate” if the partnership were terminated.

Collaboration isn’t over between the two airlines: the Department of Transportation said Delta can maintain its 20% stake in the Mexican airline and the partnership can continue through “arms-length activities such as codesharing, marketing, and frequent flyer cooperation.”

Max Knoblauch9/11/25

The DOJ is suing Uber, alleging the company discriminates against passengers with disabilities

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Uber on Thursday, alleging that the company routinely and illegally discriminates against passengers with physical disabilities.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, alleges that Uber’s drivers regularly refuse service to passengers with service animals and stowable wheelchairs. Some passengers are charged cleaning fees for service animals and cancellation fees after being refused a ride, the lawsuit alleges. According to the complaint, others are insulted or denied requests like sitting in the front seat due to mobility issues.

“Uber’s discriminatory conduct has caused significant economic, emotional, and physical harm to individuals with disabilities,” the lawsuit reads.

A survey last year by the organization Guide Dogs for the Blind found that more than 83% of people who are blind or visually impaired said they’ve been denied ride-share service.

In a statement to Bloomberg, Uber disagreed with the lawsuit, saying it has a “zero-tolerance policy for confirmed service denials.”

Jon Keegan9/9/25

Draft Senate bill gives AI companies a two-year pass on federal regulation, Bloomberg reports

Bloomberg reports that a draft bill from Senator Ted Cruz would give AI companies a two-year pass from any federal regulation when they apply to be part of a White House-controlled “regulatory sandbox.” Such a regulatory framework frees participating companies from federal agency oversight while simultaneously handing President Trump broad powers to shape a still nascent and increasingly powerful industry.

The draft bill allows companies approved for the waiver to request renewals for up to eight years, according to the report.

The fast-moving generative-AI boom that took the tech world by storm was kicked off by the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT less than three years ago. A potential decade free of federal regulations would be a huge win for companies like Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Amazon.

In July, the US Senate voted 99-1 to kill a planned provision from President Trump’s massive tax bill that would have prevented any state from regulating AI for 10 years.

Draft Senate Bill Waives Federal Rules on AI Companies During Testing