Jimmy Kimmel has moved his planned interview with Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico off television and onto YouTube, citing ongoing threats and regulatory pressure from Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission against ABC and its local affiliates ahead of the November midterms.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel announced during his Wednesday monologue that his scheduled conversation with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico would bypass the ABC television broadcast and air exclusively on the show’s digital channel. Kimmel framed the decision as a protective measure out of consideration for local stations, specifically pointing to ABC affiliates in Texas that would otherwise bear the brunt of regulatory backlash.
FCC Scrutiny and the Equal-Time Rules Dispute
The scheduling shift highlights an escalating battle between broadcast networks and federal regulators over political guest bookings. In January, the Republican-led Federal Communications Commission determined that late-night and daytime talk programs no longer qualify as bona fide news programs exempt from equal-time mandates. Those regulations require broadcasters to offer comparable airtime to opposing political candidates.
Kimmel told his audience that interviewing political figures has been a standard practice for decades across various networks and administrations. You know, for a lot of years, for the whole 20-plus years of our show, in fact, I’ve been interviewing Americans who are running for office with no problem at all, just like Letterman did, Leno did, Arsenio, etc. etc., I’ve interviewed a lot of political candidates.
He contrasted past election cycles—including interviewing Donald Trump during his 2015 and 2016 campaigns—with the current regulatory climate. Now that [Trump is] president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates [and] our local stations based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings, it would seem, [that] they don’t like
Kimmel added.
Disney and ABC Fight Back in Federal Court
The tension between the network and federal regulators extends well beyond late-night monologues. In August, ABC and its parent company, Disney, filed a federal lawsuit against the FCC, arguing that the agency’s actions violate First Amendment protections. The legal challenge targets the FCC’s decision to haul eight ABC-owned local stations up for early license renewals more than four years ahead of schedule.
According to the lawsuit filed in federal court, the regulatory scrutiny singled out Houston ABC affiliate KTRK/ABC13, demanding thousands of pages of documents regarding internal communications and hiring practices. The federal probe specifically flagged an earlier segment on The View featuring Talarico, who is challenging Republican Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race.
The FCC defended its actions by maintaining that broadcasters must operate in the public interest.
Precedents on Late-Night Airwaves
This marks the second time this year that an appearance by Talarico on a major network late-night program has been diverted to the internet due to regulatory concerns.
Kimmel’s interview with the Texas Senate nominee is scheduled to be published in full on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! YouTube channel, giving viewers digital access while keeping local broadcast licenses out of the regulatory crosshairs ahead of the November midterms.
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