Cavett, who seemed to personify the liberalism that Nixon despised, had drawn the president\u2019s ire by platforming anti-war activists like John Kerry<\/a> and Jane Fonda<\/a>, along with left-wing radicals such as Stokely Carmichael<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nixon ultimately failed in his attempt to silence Cavett. ABC executives were committed to independent media, while the broadcasting industry as a whole had garnered the attention and trust of an enormous audience, which insulated them from political pressure.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump\u2019s second term, during which he has loudly announced his desire to rid the nation\u2019s televisions of his critics, and is making headway in doing so. In July 2025, CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert\u2019s late night show<\/a>. While the network maintained this was \u201cpurely a financial decision\u201d based on ratings<\/a>, it came in the wake of Colbert mocking both the president and the network.<\/p>\n \u201cI hear Kimmel is next<\/a>,\u201d Trump crowed in the days after. Lo and behold, ABC briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel on Sept. 17 over comments the comedian made<\/a> about the response to the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension was lifted five days later<\/a>, after it generated widespread backlash and became a flash point for free speech debates in the U.S.<\/p>\n But why has Trump been able to shake up late-night TV in ways Nixon never could?<\/p>\n It\u2019s tempting to think of the network era \u2013 those decades in the 20th century when CBS, NBC and ABC dominated television \u2013 as a golden age of independent broadcasting and free expression.<\/p>\n However, as political historians of media<\/a>, we know from our research that TV has always been a battleground of politics, business interests and broadcasting ideals.<\/p>\n The apparent appeasement of Trump by network executives shows just how much has changed in both the media and regulatory landscape since Nixon\u2019s time.<\/p>\n Television\u2019s decline<\/p>\n Direct pressure from the White House was the immediate catalyst for ABC\u2019s decision to briefly pull the plug on Kimmel.<\/p>\n Brendan Carr, the chair of the FCC, threatened ABC and its affiliates while speaking on the podcast of right-wing commentator Benny Johnson.<\/p>\n \u201cThese companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel,\u201d he said<\/a>, \u201cor, you know, there\u2019s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.\u201d Soon, Nexstar and Sinclair, which own dozens of ABC affiliates, announced that they would pull the show, forcing ABC to act.<\/p>\n That said, network television\u2019s fading place in the American media ecosystem probably made the call a whole lot easier.<\/p>\n When Nixon was trying to nix \u201cThe Dick Cavett Show,\u201d the program averaged 5 million viewers<\/a> a night. The rival \u201cTonight Show Starring Johnny Carson<\/a>\u201d regularly pulled in 11 million viewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet even Cavett\u2019s relatively smaller audience is more than double what Kimmel and his colleagues in late night television can count on<\/a> today.<\/p>\n The rise of cable<\/a> loosened the networks\u2019 chokehold on TV news and entertainment in the late 20th century. The internet<\/a> \u2013 followed by the advent of podcasts, streaming and social media \u2013 merely accelerated this trend.<\/p>\n By the 2010s, more viewers were watching clips of late night talk shows on their phones and computers than on television. Today, over 40% of people under 30<\/a> say they don\u2019t watch broadcast or cable TV.<\/p>\n Kimmel does have over 20 million subscribers on YouTube<\/a> and millions more<\/a> on social media, but ABC has struggled to monetize this following<\/a>.<\/p>\n In short, late night is no longer the TV crown jewel it once was<\/a>. As a result, it\u2019s far easier for executives to decide to cut the cord on a Kimmel or a Colbert.<\/p>\n Deregulation and consolidation<\/p>\n Broadcasting has always been a business where those at the top are swayed by the bottom line.<\/p>\n But back in Cavett\u2019s day, top decision-makers at the networks were still dyed-in-the-wool broadcasting executives. Leonard Goldenson, the president of ABC whom Nixon\u2019s aides hounded, had created the network from scratch<\/a> and was invested in the ideals of independent media. Over at CBS, founder William S. Paley had spent decades building the network\u2019s brand and reputation<\/a> and held similar beliefs. They wanted to shield the respectability of their networks, which made them more resolute when confronted with political attacks.<\/p>\n Now, however, the ultimate decisions about what happens at ABC and CBS are made by executives at the megacorporations that own them.<\/p>\n Decades of deregulation \u2013 in particular, the Telecommunications Act of 1996<\/a>, which spurred a wave of media mergers and consolidation \u2013 have allowed broadcasting today to be dominated by a handful of massive conglomerates. They own not only the networks, but also studios, cable channels and internet services.<\/p>\n These media giants need government approval to further expand their empires. This includes the US$8 billion merger<\/a> that made Paramount Skydance the owner of CBS in summer 2025 \u2013 a deal that was approved just a week after CBS announced the cancellation of \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.\u201d Disney, which owns ABC, also has major deals pending that require the government\u2019s go-ahead<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the ultimate goal is ever-increasing profits for shareholders, getting rid of a late night show may seem like a small price to pay \u2013 especially if a particular program threatens the government\u2019s sign-off on a massive deal.<\/p>\n Charging \u2018liberal bias\u2019<\/p>\n The decline of ratings and media consolidation has left television more vulnerable to attempts at political intimidation than ever before.<\/p>\n Trump is far from the first conservative to use the television networks as a political punching bag. His strategy of tarring national broadcasters with the brush of \u201cliberal media bias\u201d can be traced back to right-wing media activists<\/a> who, as early as the 1940s, argued that the mainstream media shut out conservative ideas and voices.<\/p>\n Nixon, convinced that the nation\u2019s television industry was against him, brought those tactics to the White House<\/a>. In public, he relied on his vice president, Spiro Agnew, to slam the networks<\/a> as part of an irresponsibly hostile liberal \u201cunelected elite\u201d with \u201cvast power.\u201d In private, Nixon abused the office of the presidency<\/a> to harass and intimidate broadcasting reporters, directors and executives.<\/p>\n These tactics largely failed. But in Nixon\u2019s wake, partisan media activists like former Fox News executive Roger Ailes<\/a> and radio host Rush Limbaugh<\/a> continued to popularize the idea of \u201cliberal media bias\u201d within the conservative movement.<\/p>\n Today, Trump\u2019s charges of \u201cliberal bias\u201d or \u201cfake news\u201d galvanize his supporters \u2013 and make media executives sweat \u2013 because they\u2019re a key part of modern right-wing identity.<\/p>\n But the president\u2019s no-holds-barred approach is unprecedented. By threatening broadcasting licenses, instigating investigations and filing lawsuits \u2013 all while declaring the mainstream media \u201cthe enemy of the people<\/a>\u201d \u2013 Trump has turned the dial up to 11.<\/p>\n His administration\u2019s success in temporarily getting Kimmel off the air is obviously one more chapter in an ongoing crisis for free speech<\/a>. Unfortunately, given the trends in the relationship between American media and politics over the past half-century, it likely won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sage Meredith Goodwin<\/a>, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for American Political History and Technology, Purdue University<\/a> and Oscar Winberg<\/a>, Postdoctoral Fellow, Turku Institute for Advanced Studies & John Morton Center for North American Studies, University of Turku<\/a><\/p>\n This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Elderly](\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/692236\/original\/file-20250922-66-dg1vnl.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip\")
People protest in New York City against ABC\u2019s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel from his late night show.
Stephanie Keith\/Getty Images<\/a><\/p>\n