We can do this the easy way or the hard way.

Those are not the words of a mob boss and good fellas.

Those are the words of the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

They were words of warning delivered on a right-wing podcast and aimed at the broadcasters

of a late-night comedian.

Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the

hard way.

These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there's going to be

additional work for the FCC ahead.

Brendan Carr, the man on the right side of the screen there, is the head of the agency that

regulates U.S. licensed communications on broadcast television and radio.

He was responding to a monologue by ABC's Jimmy Kimmel about the MAGA reaction to the alleged shooter of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. To be clear, in the wake of Charlie Kirk's

murder, Kimmel took to social media to condemn the killing. The comments on his show were about political

characterizations around the killer's motives. Carr accused Kimmel of spreading misinformation

and warned ABC and its parent company Disney that they could be held accountable under regulatory

power. Five hours after Carr made those comments, right-leaning broadcaster Neckstar, the owner of 32 ABC stations, announced it would pull Kimmel's show from their affiliates across the country.

Twenty minutes after that, at 6.30 p.m., ABC The Network, followed by preempting Jimmy Kimmel live indefinitely.

Let's consider what's playing out in the background.

Neckstar, the right-leaning media giant that airs Kimmel on its local affiliate stations,

is pushing to close a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, which operates 13 ABC local affiliates.

Problem is, Nexstar already exceeds the regulatory cap that's meant to prevent one company

from reaching more than 39% of U.S. households and would require the FCC to raise that

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