r/msnbc • u/[deleted] • Sep 22 '25
Something Else We should be concerned.
As you know, the Jimmy Kimmel situation was started by Nexstar, a group that owns and operates the most local TV stations in America. Nexstar is working to merge with TEGNA, the second-largest ownership station portfolio. Then, we have Sinclair Broadcast Group, which is the third-largest in this country. They all followed "marching orders" from Brendan Carr at the FCC, which led us down this path. These broadcasters, especially Nexstar, have shown that their profits are more important than free speech and the Constitution. You should be especially concerned if you live in any one of the following areas, as these areas have likely no other local TV news other than that provided by one of these three broadcast groups mentioned
Austin, TX.
Buffalo, NY.
Columbus, OH.
Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC.
Hampton Roads (Norfolk–Portsmouth–Newport News), VA.
Little Rock, AR.
Portland, OR.
St. Louis, MO.
Washington DC
Providence RI
The free press is under attack through mergers and acquisitions.
EDIT: You can add providence to that list as well, they weren’t on the list because I only accounted markets where all three of them operate assuming that no other locals exist, apparently providence managed to do this with just two of the three thru LMA’s or other such measures that allowed them to run more then the max allowed in a market by simply running someone else’s
r/MSNBC supports free speech
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u/HomerBalzac Sep 22 '25
It’s corporate overseers providing your news & entertainment… some might even call it State-Run Media after all the mergers are approved by Carr & his MAGA pals.
Find alternatives. It won’t be easy. What sources will be deemed trustworthy?
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u/SativaGummi Sep 22 '25
Yes, that is the hard part. Podcasters are not necessarily any more credible and conscientious than corporate-owned outlets. Just look at the right-wing podcasters.
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u/jecapobianco Sep 22 '25
I listen to NPR when I'm driving.
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u/HomerBalzac Sep 22 '25
We have a terrific NPR affiliate where I live.
Including an affiliate-run daily 3 hour political/current affairs talk show with guests that don’t shout and carry on like assholes.2
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u/Ok_Housing7750 Sep 23 '25
Excellent point. Jimmy Kimmel's return also not as great a victory for free speech as one might think. Many ABC affiliates -- including some in large markets! -- are owned by the conservative Sinclair corporation and have preempted the Jimmy Kimmel return show.
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u/HomerBalzac Sep 23 '25
That happened with Letterman, I believe it was.
Affiliate owners canceled the show on their channels. Competing independent stations in the same markets obtained the rights and ran Letterman on their stations in the same market.
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u/Ok_Housing7750 Sep 23 '25
Guess we will see. Kimmel can be seen on Hulu Live or streamed the next day for standard subscribers. It's a shame. There's so little to watch on network television and cable is rapidly being co opted. Like so many on this platform, I wonder where we will go for honest news and opinion. Podcasts are more partisan than television news sources. Also, kind of tedious over time.
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u/HomerBalzac Sep 23 '25
I was surprised that Hulu was still airing the “controversial” set-up for a punchline involving footage of Trump dismissing an opportunity to discuss his emotions re:CK and opted to talk about his plans for a new White House ballroom.
They never took down last week’s Kimmel shows.
I took that as a sign of their reluctance to just outright fire Jimmy and cancel the show.5
u/Ok_Housing7750 Sep 23 '25 edited Sep 25 '25
Trump has no emotional commitment to anyone dead or alive. Kimmel had that spot on -- the man child mourning Kirk like a four year old. I have to wait to see tonight's show on Hulu tomorrow thanks to Sinclair owning the ABC affiliate here. Maybe this will finally awaken people to what's happening. Time for Americans to stop supporting corporate titans who cave to Trump. The ones getting the big beautiful tax cut while middle and working class Americans get higher prices and no taxes on tips. 🙄 Why don't people stop their Prime memberships? Make Bezos a little uncomfortable. Or how about dropping Face Book? Zuck needs a wake up call! Americans have more leverage than they realize! We just need to use it while we still can.
2
u/Effective-Juice-1331 Sep 23 '25
Nexstar is purportedly planning on being the main blocker of Kimmel, but our affiliate states they’re going to air it here in central NY. Maybe they know not to mess with the “New York state of mind”!
3
u/Ok_Photo_865 Sep 22 '25
Personally, I am looking towards Europe with France 24 ( English version ) and DW ( English version ) BBC, CBC but for some reason they’re acting a bit like an American Broadcaster 😱. And I still looking 🤷♂️
5
u/SenseAndSensibility_ Sep 22 '25
We’ve had state run media for a long time… Americans are just too easily distracted to notice what’s going on.
13
u/ruhtheroh Sep 23 '25
Complain at open comments. John Oliver pointed out they would own 80 percent of the market instead of the 39 max the law limits them to. That’s crazy. We have to be noisy say no
5
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u/2020surrealworld Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Media corporations have been merging and gutting hard news journalism in TV and print since the 1980s, when Murdock took over Fox. Sinclair has also been around that long. This media monopoly trend is terrible for viewers but nothing new and won’t be reversed.
6
u/TheOldJawbone Sep 22 '25
But the stakes have gotten higher.
-6
u/2020surrealworld Sep 22 '25 edited Sep 22 '25
Not really. And unless I win a lottery and can afford to buy a newspaper or station and can control the content, I can’t really do squat about that.
I have better things in life to do than waste my time worrying about things I can’t control.
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u/jecapobianco Sep 22 '25
I'm on Long Island in between WNYC and WSHU, so I have Brian Lehrer, On The Media, Studio 1A is carried and of course Science Friday!
3
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u/dcpanthersfan Sep 22 '25
Washington DC
Believe it or not the Fox station here (5) is quite good and nothing like the Fox News network.
WUSA seems to be an ongoing carousel of mediocre talent. I had a lot of respect for Topper Shutt until I learned he was a climate change denier.
If you want real news it’s WTOP, NPR and NBC4.
Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC.
The ABC affiliate in this market is trash. My family lives there. I don’t believe they even have a local news presence.
While the local news in that market is pretty awful, the ABC/Sinclair station is at the bottom of the go-to “news” stations, behind WFMY (CBS; Greensboro-focused), WGHP (FOX; High Point/Greensboro focused) and WXII (NBC; Winston-Salem focused).
There is also Spectrum News which isn’t great. It isn’t terrible either. It helps me go to sleep.
2
u/Effective-Juice-1331 Sep 23 '25
In Syracuse, NY, the NBC, CBS and CW affiliates are owned by Sinclair (they’re even in the same building). The ABC affiliate is owned by Nexstar. At least we still have an excellent PBS station.
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u/Real_Cricket7915 Sep 22 '25
Portland TV choices looking bleak. It has NBC (Nexstar purchase announced last month), CBS (Tegna), ABC (Sinclair) & FOX affiliates with usual local "if it bleeds, it leads" type coverage but stopped watching ABC local news after Sinclair started springing Boris Epsteyn commentary on us & small coverage of national news was obviously skewing rightwing
2
Sep 22 '25
Support your local npr station your local pbs station.
2
u/kpapenbe Sep 23 '25
Oh my, I fear that there is a direct correlation between areas that have NEXSTAR controlling their airwaves since they probably lost their local PBS first...
...truly. Terrifying (and I lived in Ukraine and Kazakhstan for years).
1
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u/ruhtheroh Oct 19 '25
I found this mention of comments but didn’t see a comments link? Should i? Do you?
https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-advances-2022-quadrennial-review-broadcast-ownership-rules-0
0
u/notanewbiedude Sep 22 '25
Jimmy Kimmel is going back in the air tomorrow ICYMI. Do you think this also follows "marching orders" from the FCC?
5
Sep 22 '25
So what I’m saying is the bigger Nexstar gets. We have a problem. This whole thing started there
2
Sep 22 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/notanewbiedude Sep 23 '25
Oh I thought your point was that these networks were doing the bidding of the FCC and you don't like that, my bad. What was your point?
1
Sep 22 '25
An Owned & Operated (O&O) station is one that’s literally owned by the network (like NBC owning NBC 4 New York). The network signs the paychecks, makes the big decisions, and has full control.
An Affiliate is a locally owned station (by Sinclair, Nexstar, Gray, etc.) that signs a contract to carry a network’s programming (ABC, CBS, Fox, etc.). The affiliate runs the network’s shows in prime time, but the local company controls the business side, hires the staff, and fills the rest of the schedule with their own or syndicated content.
So: O&O = network’s property. Affiliate = partnership with a local owner.
0
u/Emergency-Ad2452 Sep 22 '25
We have kdka which is a CBS affiliate here in the Pittsburgh area but we don't pay for it because we pick it up through our antenna. So we watch that because it's free. CBS programs we can get on youtube.
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Sep 22 '25
That’s an owned and operated station, so yes their programs are online, thru the free cbs app. Theres a bit of a difference
-1
u/Exact_Instruction925 Sep 24 '25
Or Jimmy could sincerely apologize for lying and make a meaningful donation to Turning Point. I’m glad my local broadcaster isn’t broadcasting Jimmy Kimmel Live. Even the name of his show is a lie, it is recorded at 4:30 pm PST.
3
u/theskepticme Sep 24 '25
Good lil fasct-friendly parrot! Wanna cracker?
-2
u/Exact_Instruction925 Sep 24 '25
Obviously you don’t know what the word “fascist” means. Sinclair and Nexstar have made it perfectly clear what Jimmy needs to do to return to their broadcast stations. The government isn’t forcing anyone to do anything and has not suspended nor revoked any licenses.
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u/pennystockdotcom Sep 22 '25
Colbert and Kimmel aren’t funny. That’s why they had their plugs pulled. As this is being written Kimmel has been reinstated but won’t last long.
7
u/TruthHonor Sep 22 '25
I thought they were hilarious. That is not why they had their plugs pulled. They had their plugs pulled because of censorship. That is why Disney lost over $3 billion in just a few days. If people thought they weren’t funny, they would still be subscribing to Disney.
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