By MAE ANDERSON and MATT SEDENSKY

NEW YORK (AP) — Two ABC affiliate owners spoke out against late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel ahead of ABC’s decision to suspend the presenter over comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Their comments highlight the influence local TV station owners have on national broadcasters such as Disney-owned ABC.

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Here are key facts about the two companies.

Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, based in Irving, Texas, operates 28 ABC affiliates. It said it would pull Kimmel’s show starting Wednesday. Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s death were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.

The company owns or partners with more than 200 stations in 116 U.S. markets, and owns broadcast networks the CW and NewsNation, as well as the political website The Hill and nearly a third of the Food Network.

It hopes to get even bigger. Last month, it announced a $6.2 billion deal to buy TEGNA Inc., which owns 64 other TV stations.

FILE- In this Oc. 29, 2014, file photo honoree Perry Sook, Chairman, President and CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, attends the 24th Annual Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame Awards at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Nexstar is offering to buy Chicago’s Tribune Media for about $4 billion, four months after the collapse of a similar bid from Sinclair Broadcast Group. The offer Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, would make Nexstar, whose stations reach nearly 39 percent of all U.S. television households, the biggest operator of local TV stations in the U.S. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

The deal would require the Federal Communications Commission to change rules limiting the number of stations a single company can own. The FCC’s chair, Brendan Carr, has expressed openness to changing the rule.

Sinclair Broadcast Group

Sinclair Broadcast Group, based in Hunt Valley, Maryland, operates 38 local ABC affiliates. On Wednesday the company, which has a reputation for a conservative viewpoint in its broadcasts, called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful personal donation” to the activist’s political organization, Turning Point USA. Sinclair said its ABC stations will air a tribute to Kirk on Friday in Kimmel’s time slot.

Sinclair owns, operates or provides services to 178 TV stations in 81 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks and owns Tennis Channel.

Controversies

Sinclair made headlines in 2018 when a video that stitched together dozens of news anchors for Sinclair-owned local stations reading identical statements decrying “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing the country” went viral. Sinclair didn’t disclose that it ordered the anchors to read the statement.

Nexstar operates similarly.

Danilo Yanich, professor of public policy at the University of Delaware, said the company is the “biggest duplicator” of news content today His research showed Nexstar stations duplicated broadcasts more than other affiliate owners.

Affiliate influence

Lauren Herold, an editor of the forthcoming book “Local TV,” said the web of companies involved in getting Americans their television shows is “relatively unknown” to most viewers, though their influence has been made known for decades.

Often, Herold said, that’s been when local affiliates have balked at airing something they viewed as controversial, such as the episode of the 1990s comedy “Ellen” in which Ellen DeGeneres’ character came out as gay.

“It’s not a complete oddity,” Herold said. “I think what’s more alarming about this particular incident to me is the top-down nature of it.”

Whereas past flare-ups between affiliates and their parent networks have often involved individual local TV executives, Herold pointed to the powerful voices at play in Kimmel’s suspension: Disney CEO Bob Iger, the FCC’s chair Carr, as well as Sinclair and Nexstar.

“The FCC kind of pinpointing particular programs to cancel is concerning to people who advocate for television to be a forum for free discussion and debate,” Herold said.

Jasmine Bloemhof, a media strategist who has worked with local stations, including ones owned by Sinclair and Nexstar, said consolidation has given such companies “enormous influence.” Controversies like the latest involving Kimmel, she said, “reveal the tension between Hollywood-driven programming and the values of everyday Americans.”

“Networks may push one agenda, but affiliates owned by companies like Sinclair and Nexstar understand they serve conservative-leaning communities across the country,” Bloemhof said. “And that friction is bound to surface.”

By JEFF MARTIN and MIKE SCHNEIDER

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A man who was unresponsive after riding a roller coaster at Universal Orlando Resort’s newest park died from blunt impact injuries, a medical examiner said Thursday.

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Joshua Stephany, the medical examiner for the Orlando area, ruled the death an accident after performing an autopsy. The statement from Stephany did not mention any details about the injuries, including where on the body they were found.

The man in his 30s was found unresponsive after riding the coaster at Epic Universe on Wednesday, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Dennis Speigel, CEO and founder of consulting firm International Theme Park Services, called the autopsy’s conclusion “pretty shocking,” and he said it raised more questions than it answered.

“Was it the head or the chest? Was he banging around? Was he in his seat properly?” Speigel said. “Was it an accident caused by the ride or him doing something?”

The medical examiner’s office didn’t respond to an email seeking further details on the injuries.

The roller coaster involved was Stardust Racers, Universal officials said in a statement. It’s described on the resort’s website as “a breathtaking, dual-launch coaster reaching incredible speeds up to 62 mph.”

FILE – Guests ride on the Stardust Racers roller coaster at Epic Universe Theme Park at Universal Resort Orlando, April 10, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)

“We are devastated by this tragic event and extend our sincerest sympathies to the guest’s loved ones,” a Universal Orlando Resorts spokesperson said in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with Orange County and the ongoing investigation. The attraction remains closed.”

After the autopsy was released, Universal said it couldn’t comment beyond its earlier statement because of the ongoing investigation.

Universal opened the park in May. It has five themed sections and a 500-room hotel.

It’s the first major, traditional theme park to open in Florida since 1999, when Universal Islands of Adventure debuted, though Universal opened a themed Orlando water park, Volcano Bay, in 2017.

The addition of Epic Universe brought the total number of parks at the Florida resort to four, including Universal Studios.

Florida’s largest theme parks are exempt from state safety inspections, unlike smaller venues and fairs. Instead, the largest theme parks like Walt Disney World and Universal conduct their own inspections and have their own protocols, but they must report to the state any injury or death.

In the second quarter of this year, there were a dozen reports from Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld Orlando. They ranged from a 78-year-old woman becoming unresponsive on a child-friendly carousel at SeaWorld to an 87-year-old woman with a preexisting condition losing consciousness after going on the Dinosaur ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Since Epic Universe opened in May, there have been three reports made. In May, a 63-year-old man with a preexisting condition experienced dizziness and “an altered state of consciousness” and a 47-year-old woman with a preexisting condition had a “visual disturbance” and numbness after going on the Stardust Racers coaster, on separate days. A 32-year-old man experienced chest pains after going on the Hiccup’s Wing Gliders ride, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social

By R.J. RICO

A decomposed body found inside an impounded Tesla in Los Angeles has been identified as that of a teenage girl who went missing last year.

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Several local news outlets reported the vehicle was registered to the singer d4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, 20. Neither his representatives nor police responded to requests for comment. Authorities have not implicated d4vd in her death.

Celeste Rivas, 15, was found dead inside the vehicle, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Wednesday. Officials have not determined her cause of death.

The body was discovered Sept. 8 at a tow lot in Hollywood after someone noticed a stench coming from the Tesla, police said, according to news outlets.

In a statement, the medical examiner’s office said the body “was found severely decomposed.”

“She appears to have been deceased inside the vehicle for an extended period of time before being found,” officials said.

An unnamed representative for d4vd told NBC Los Angeles that the singer has been cooperating with authorities since the body was found. It’s not clear why his car had been impounded.

Celeste was last seen in April 2024 in Lake Elsinore, about 60 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. She was 13 at the time.

D4vd (pronounced “David”) is a Houston-born singer-songwriter who went from recording music in his sister’s closet to becoming one of Gen Z’s most buzzed-about artists. His music blends indie rock, R&B, and lo-fi pop, which has made him a fresh, genre-bending voice in today’s alt-pop scene.

D4vd broke through in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which went viral on TikTok and peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then followed with “Here With Me,” which further cemented his moody, emotional style. Each of those two songs has racked up more than 1.5 billion streams on Spotify.

D4vd has since signed with Darkroom and Interscope — home to Billie Eilish — and released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023. He released his first full-length album, “Withered,” in April.

AP Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

John Harris, the former Gophers hockey player who later dominated Minnesota amateur golf, died Wednesday at the age of 73. According to the Minnesota Golf Association, the cause was a recurrence of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Harris, who grew up in Roseau, was the MGA player of the year 10 times, and nine times in succession from 1987-95. He won four Minnesota State Amateur titles and joined the PGA Champions Tour in 2002 and won a tournament, the Commerce Bank Championship in 2006.

He won the 1993 U.S. Amateur tournament and was a member of the U.S. Walker Cup team four times.

He became director of golf at his alma mater in 2010 but resigned a year later when the women’s head coach, Kathryn Brenny, claimed he was letting his son-in-law run the women’s program instead and creating a hostile work environment. In March 2014, a Hennepin County judge awarded Brenny $359,000 in a related discrimination lawsuit.

Harris turned pro twice, the first time after qualifying in Q School in 1975. He played in the U.S. Open three times, and in 1994 finished tied for 50th at the Masters in Augusta, Ga.

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