When Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson are raging against their President, you know a line has been crossed.

Cruz said the FCC threat from Brendan Carr was straight out of Goodfellas and it's got mafia written all over it.

It's important not to forget we have the confluence of several stories here in the Jimmy Kimmel scrap;

1) The absurdity of defending free speech while closing it down. The First Amendment is critical, until it isn't, apparently.

2) The lack of corporate spine. Both Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have been dumped, mainly because the companies that own the networks were looking for FCC approval to do business.

The fact they were being compromised by stand over tactics didn’t appear to bother them.

It reminds me a lot of Covid in this country. The number of corporates who privately raged at the Government were nowhere to be seen publicly. It's amazing what power-driving fear can do to a business.

3) The simple reality that despite number one and two, these late night shows have in fact dug their own grave.

They are a broadcasting failure. Their arrogance to ignore the mood of the audience has seen their ratings crater and, along with it, advertising revenue.

Where once Jay Leno and Letterman kept it light and fun, Kimmel and co have turned their shows into angst fest's, with less humour and more campaigning. No one wants to be lectured at 11 o'clock at night and they failed to see that.

Like it or not the Trump train is rolling and their fury belongs largely in places like California. The rest of America isn't interested.

So in the midst of the mess, who is the biggest criminal?

Is it the President for being a hypocrite? Is it the networks for being spineless? Or is it the shows for being out of touch with their audiences?

While you work that out, the indisputable bit is the biggest losers are the shows.

The President aint returning and he is time limited. The networks will move on with their FCC permissions but the shows are gone. The landscape is irrevocably changed.

The big question left is - who's next?

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Mike's Minute: The U.S. supports free speech, until it doesn't

The Mike Hosking Breakfast