The Future of Late Night TV, Jimmy Kimmel, and The First Amendment

Channels with Peter Kafka

When’s the last time you stayed up to watch a late night TV monologue? Months? Years? Decades?

I’m not sure, either. But I stayed up Tuesday night to watch Jimmy Kimmel’s return. James Poniewozik, who covers TV for the New York Times, just caught up with it the next day on YouTube.

Which underscores one of the odder parts of the Trump v. Kimmel fight - it revolves around a time slot and a format that has been on its way out for a long time.

So how did late night TV become a flashpoint in a crucial First Amendment fight? And how long is it going to stick around?

James is the perfect person for this discussion: Not only does he watch TV (or YouTube) for a living, he’s also become a professional Trump-watcher, because Trump is a TV character. (Trump and TV are the subject of James’ excellent 2019 book). But make no mistake: the threats he’s making — on his own and with the help of his regulators – are very real.

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