When keeping it real goes wrong.
The ABC network’s late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! has gotten itself into some trouble. The show doesn’t miss an opportunity to poke fun at America’s current Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump, however, the show’s use a presidential alert test tone has cost them big. In October 2018, Jimmy Kimmel was mocking the president’s use the alert and aired the tone three times during a segment a fake movie titled The Textening. ABC told the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that they didn’t realize that the use the tone wasn’t allowed, but the network was still slapped with a $395K fine.
Theo Wargo/Getty s
The FCC has been cracking down on networks in regards to the presidential emergency alert, as Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t the only show that was hit with a hefty penalty. Earlier this year, The Walking Dead also used an alert tone on an episode and ABC was fined $104K. According to Reuters, the FCC stated that they have barred the airing such alerts “to avoid confusion when the tones are used, alert fatigue among listeners, and false activation the system by the operative data elements contained in the alert tones.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live!‘s costly skit is still available for viewing on YouTube. You can check it out below.