LOS ANGELES — Late night television host Jimmy Kimmel drew 6.3 million viewers for his return after ABC television first cancelled the show at President Trump’s demand and then recanted. The viewership was the largest for Kimmel in 10 years, ABC said. The ABC numbers were in spite of a blackout by 70 Trump-toady stations owned by the right-wing Sinclair and Nexstar chains. Put another way: Kimmel had 6.3 million with only 70% of ABC’s usual affiliates. In addition: Kimmel’s 30-minute monologue was viewed more than 29 million times on the YouTube digital platform within the first 24 hours. So why did ABC change its mind and restore Kimmel?
> Angry subscribers were cancelling their subscriptions in droves to joint Disney-ABC online platforms.
> Big-name Disney and ABC stars and creative talent threatened a crippling walk-out to support Kimmel’s constitutional right to rattle the cages of political leadership, including Trump.
> The usual Trump coalition, which includes strict government-hands-off libertarians, was falling apart over free-speech issues.
> Kimmel and Disney executive Bob Igor, long-time personal friends, together decided that satisfying Trump, no matter his clout through federal television- licensing mechanisms, was less important than loyalty to American free speech principles.