About 100 people protested Tuesday outside of ABC6's headquarters on Dublin Road in Columbus following their parent company's decision to keep Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show off the air.
Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media are refusing to air Kimmel's show after he commented last week on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel's parent company ABC removed his suspension and are allowing the show to air Tuesday night despite the objections of the two large media conglomerates.
Nexstar owns NBC4, Columbus' NBC affiliate, while Sinclair owns ABC6, Fox28 and CW Columbus.
Only ABC6 would have aired Kimmel's show Tuesday in the Columbus region.
The protesters held signs criticizing Sinclair and calling Kimmel's suspension an attack on free speech protections in the U.S. Constitution.
Catherine Turcer, with Common Cause Ohio, helped organize the protest. Turcer said she fears President Donald Trump will go after other people who are critical of his administration.
"This was an attack on our ability to actually think and work through things, and an opportunity not just for Jimmy Kimmel to have a voice, but for all of us to have a voice," Turcer said.
Turcer said Americans need to push back against decisions like this to preserve a democracy that works for all citizens and to have opportunities to criticize and improve the government.
"That is what the First Amendment, our freedom of speech, is all about," Turcer said.
Sinclair said in a social media post it's holding ongoing conversations with ABC about the show's potential return. It said that for now it will preempt Kimmel's show and air news programming instead.
Sinclair has a reputation for a conservative viewpoint in its broadcasts. It has called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk's family and donate to Kirk's conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA.
Nexstar, the largest broadcast TV news organization in the country, is currently trying to purchase another large ownership group, Tegna. Tegna owns WBNS, which is Columbus' CBS affiliate. Nexstar needs the federal government's approval to complete the purchase.
ABC made the decision to suspend Kimmel last week following pressure from the Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr.
Paramount decided to cancel Stephen Colbert's late night show on CBS amid its own negotiations with the federal government to consolidate with Skydance Media.
ACLU of Ohio Legislative Director Gary Daniels also spoke with the protest group. Daniels said this is bigger than Jimmy Kimmel, ABC and Sinclair.
"We have an administration that's gone after the New York Times, after 60 Minutes, after our universities and so much more," Daniels said. "They're attacking free speech on campus because they don't like that speech. They are snatching up and deporting people from this country not because they are here undocumented necessarily, but because they do not like their speech."
Daniels said it is important to remember that free speech does not protect itself. People protect free speech.
ABC6 did not respond to WOSU's request for comment.
