Why Jimmy Kimmel vs Brendan Carr could rewrite rule book for late night TV

We’re a far cry from the days of David Letterman vs Jay Leno as the biggest rivalry in late-night television. The ratings wars between NBC and CBS (handily won by Jay for much of their tenures) has given way to existential dread about the future of late-night television. (After all, CBS will wrap “The Late Show” in May, ending a 33-year run started by Letterman.)

But while the simmering feud between Jimmy Kimmel and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr may not inspire its own behind-the-scenes book and accompanying HBO movie, the stakes in this fight are about much more than winning the Nielsen game.

Under Carr, the FCC is attempting to rewrite the playbook for how late-night TV and daytime shows book political candidates, which are often used as ratings plays, especially with the midterm and 2028 presidential election cycle about to heat up.

Last week, the FCC warned that daytime and late-night talk shows may no longer enjoy exemptions from longstanding “equal time” rules. Disney via Getty Images

And Kimmel isn’t having any of it, using his bully pulpit to argue the rules for broadcast TV are too outdated. “Broadcast TV used to account for 100% of viewing. Now, it’s like 20%. There are so many channels, some of them doing 24/7 Trump programming,” he said during Wednesday’s show. “None of them are required to give equal time, but we are because we use the public airways.”

Last week, the FCC warned that daytime and late-night talk shows may no longer enjoy exemptions from longstanding “equal time” rules, which have allowed networks freedom to book political candidates on these shows without being required to give the same time to their opponents. Under Carr, the FCC is arguing that shows like Kimmel’s and “The View” shouldn’t enjoy this exemption (they have since the 1990s), which was initially made for news programming.

Kimmel and Carr’s feud has gone on for months, ever since the late night hosts comments about Charlie Kirk. Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

During the FCC’s monthly press conference yesterday, Carr responded by essentially telling Kimmel that he is free to move over to cable or do a podcast if he doesn’t want to follow the rules. “If you want the unique privilege of distributing over this one type of thing, broadcast TV, then we should really make sure that you’re actually complying with the rules,” he said.

Kimmel’s feud with Carr has gone on for months, ever since Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination briefly led to his show being pulled. That happened after Carr appeared to threaten the broadcast licenses for ABC affiliates. (Sinclair and Nexstar said they acted alone when they pulled “Kimmel” off their airwaves, and Carr denied he threatened to revoke a license.)

And while the Carr/Kimmel feud might not be Bill Carter’s next “Late Shift,” could it be turned into a 10-episode Netflix political drama by Danny Strong?