Senate Commerce Committee to hear FCC Chair Carr over Kimmel remarks

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee after a controversy over his remarks about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel that preceded the temporary removal and quick reinstatement of Kimmel's show in mid-September. Carr made the agreement after speaking with the committee chair, and a committee spokesperson said a hearing is expected though a date has not been set.

The dispute began after a Kimmel monologue on September 15 that criticized supporters of a right-leaning activist who was fatally shot on September 10. Two days later Carr appeared on a podcast and said broadcasters could address such commentary "the easy way or the hard way," language that critics interpreted as a threat to stations that continued to carry the program. Hours after the podcast, two large station groups announced they would not air Kimmel's show and ABC said it would indefinitely preempt the program on September 17. ABC reinstated the show on September 23, and the station groups restored carriage several days later. The program recorded its highest adult audience in a decade on its return.

Carr told reporters at an FCC meeting that his...