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TGIF. Jimmy Kimmel is breaking records on YouTube, Spotify is waging war against "spammy" music, and "60 Minutes" is coming back this Sunday. But first...

'Let's have a trial'

James Comey is indicted — and MAGA media is absolutely thrilled.

While news outlets highlight the unprecedented nature of the Comey charges, the connection to President Trump's pressure campaign, and the possibility that Comey will prevail in court, pro-Trump media outlets are just savoring this moment for all that it represents. Two words come to mind: Punishment and payback.

Those ideas animate many (not all, but many) conservative commentators and influencers. They've been telling viewers and readers for years about all the ways Trump's agenda has been hindered by a "deep state." And now they're telling people that there is cause to celebrate.

I liked the way The Economist framed things this morning: "Most Americans have happily forgotten the twists and turns of Russiagate. Not Donald Trump. That years-long government probe — concerning his 2016 presidential campaign’s contacts with Russians — was a crucible for the president. In his mind it was a deep-state conspiracy to derail his first term. Ever since he has talked about payback. Now he is trying to get it."

Right-wing websites and Fox News shows played key roles in transforming the Russia probe into a "hoax," as Trump and his TV boosters call it. So that's why The Federalist's main homepage headline declares that "After harming the country with Russiagate, Comey's indictment is well deserved."

While legal experts on other channels seem to expect the charges to be thrown out, possibly on "vindictive prosecution" grounds, MAGA talking heads sound convinced that Comey is guilty of, well, something. "His deceptions were pretty obvious," Gregg Jarrett said on "Fox & Friends" this morning. "He left behind a trail of other suspected crimes... So, you know, he should say 'Gee, I'm kind of a lucky guy, only two charges.'"

Comey's response to the charges came in the form of a vertical video message. "Somebody that I love dearly recently said that 'Fear is the tool of a tyrant,' and she's right. But I'm not afraid, and I hope you're not either," he said. His conclusion: "Let's have a trial."

Meant to intimidate?

Most news outlets have appropriately centered Trump's public pressure in stories and discussions about the Comey indictment. "This is not just a backward-looking prosecution against the president's past enemies," David Frum told Erin Burnett last night, it's part of a broader effort to "intimidate" all Trump adversaries.

And it "does not matter if the charges don't hold up in court," Brendan Nyhan wrote on X. Through prosecutions, Trump "can ruin people's reputations and bankrupt them. Even the threat of a Comey-style prosecution will silence dissent within and outside his administration."

Democratic lawmakers blitzed the airwaves last night to speak out against the indictment, even though many have their own gripes about Comey. "Anybody who thinks we're on the way to authoritarianism is wrong. We are there," Rep. Chris Van Hollen told MSNBC's Chris Hayes.

DNC chair Ken Martin connected the dots between the Comey news and the recent Jimmy Kimmel kerfuffle: "Trump said he'd go after the 'enemy within.' Well, the 'enemy' is anybody on his personal shit list: political opponents, late night TV hosts, and those who say things he doesn't like. This transcends partisanship. Every American's freedom is at risk."

Connecting Comey and Kimmel

The Atlantic's Adam Serwer penned this column about Kimmelgate, but you may think it applies just as well to the Comey indictment, given that other prosecutors had big concerns about bringing the case to a grand jury:

"Everyone always has sound, rational reasons for caving to intimidation... But in every case, the act of capitulation compromises the very thing those capitulating say they want to protect. Fighting doesn't always result in victory, but surrendering guarantees defeat. The only people who have preserved their dignity or their rights in dealing with Trump are those who have been willing to stand up to him." Here's a gift link.

Kimmel: 'We got the Trump bump'

Newfound enthusiasm for Jimmy Kimmel's show is not evaporating after just one night. His night two monologue has topped 7 million views on YouTube, enough to rank as one of his most-watched videos of the year. And last night, which was night three of his return, he touted some of the #s:

"Even though we are still being preempted in 60 American cities, on Tuesday, we had our second-highest rated show in almost 23 years on the air. Our monologue from Tuesday night has more than 21 million views just on YouTube alone. And I want to say, we couldn't have done it without you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. We got the Trump bump, and we appreciate it." Here's the video...

What will Nexstar do?

Nexstar CEO Perry Sook, a.k.a. "Uncle Perry," knows that more than Nexstar's existing broadcast licenses are at stake in this Kimmel standoff, Joe Flint writes in this story on Page One of today's WSJ. Nexstar's ABC-affiliated stations continue to hear from lots and lots of frustrated Kimmel fans...

Carr's change of tone 

Liam Reilly writes: Brendan Carr's tone has shifted dramatically since Kimmel returned to ABC's airwaves. In the days after the FCC chair's initial interview with Benny Johnson, Carr appeared to be everywhere, repeatedly deriding Kimmel and praising the station owners who preempted the show. 

As the backlash began to grow, however, Carr notably changed tactics, pivoting to claim he never threatened anyone and accusing Democrats of a "campaign of projection and distortion." And now that Kimmel is back on air, Carr's basically gone quiet: He has yet to address the late-night host's return and has used X to post about his Yankees fandom and other everyday topics instead.

Disney notes and quotes

 >> The past week has shown Bob Iger "and the rest of corporate America that playing yes-man to the Trump administration is bad for business," Beth Kowitt writes. (Bloomberg)

 >> Kimmel and his staffers are the big winners of this saga, Matt Belloni asserts: "Jimmy has pretty much guaranteed that he can go out on his own terms, whenever that is." (Puck)

 >> Jake Tapper talked with ABC News veterans Lisa Stark and Judy Muller about the group letter to Iger urging him to stand tall amid Trump's threats. (CNN)

 >> Natasha Chen looked back at some of Disney's past political challenges. (CNN)

COMING UP...

'60 Minutes' returns this Sunday

Fans of a product can usually tell if it's been watered down. So let's see if viewers of "60 Minutes" sense any changes once the new season starts this Sunday. The premiere episode will begin with Scott Pelley's sit-down with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who is dubbed "a lonely voice" in US politics. Then Bill Whitaker will have a piece on Russian "hybrid warfare aimed at undersea infrastructure," and Jon Wertheim will have a profile of UFC boss/Trump pal/Paramount business partner Dana White.

Paramount hires antitrust expert

Paramount has named Makan Delrahim, "a former senior U.S. antitrust official, as its chief legal officer, amid preparations for a bid for Warner Bros Discovery," Reuters reports. It's a fascinating plot twist because Delrahim "oversaw the DOJ's unsuccessful bid to block AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner in 2018."

8️⃣ great weekend reads

 >> Nicholas Quah had an illuminating chat with Ari Shapiro ahead of Shapiro's last NPR broadcast, which is today. (NYMag)

 >> Hadas Gold documented "how Larry and David Ellison reached the peak of their wealth — and political power." (CNN)

 >> "Is a newspaper a financial asset or a community trust?" A bidding war over the Dallas Morning News "ended with an increasingly uncommon answer," Joshua Benton writes. (NiemanLab)

>> Jourdan Rodrigue explained how the NFL and YouTube getting closer could "change everything." (The Athletic)

 >> John Herrman took stock of Reddit's place in the "broader conversation about whether and how AI companies could be forced to pay up." (NYMag)

 >> Eric Cortellessa walked the Asbury Park boardwalk with Bruce Springsteen for this new TIME cover story. (TIME)

 >> I enjoyed Tabby Kinder's profile of Ed Zitron, "one of Big Tech's punchiest critics." (FT)

 >> And I loved Lucas Shaw's profile of MrBeast. (Bloomberg)

Briefly…

  >> YouTube TV and NBCUniversal "are ramping up for a carriage dispute that could lead to a blackout at the end of the month," Alex Sherman reports. (CNBC)

 >> Netflix's first exclusive MLB stream will be the Opening Day game between the Yankees and Giants next March. (The Athletic) 

 >> The Baltimore Banner has named Audrey Cooper its new EIC. (NiemanLab)

China 'conspicuously quiet' re: TikTok

CNBC's headline this morning: "China stays conspicuously quiet after Trump's TikTok deal declaration." As CNN's story explains, the deal is not yet complete, despite yesterday's exec order declaration.

For one thing, the full makeup of the American investor consortium is not yet known. Will Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch take home a slice of TikTok's US operations? Fox Corp hasn't commented yet, and neither has the White House. Fox left its own possible role out of news reports about TikTok this morning...

'If I could make it 100% MAGA, I would...'

Meanwhile, Trump was asked yesterday about the topic of our Reliable lead yesterday, the potential harnessing of TikTok for partisan political pain. The question: "Do you want to see the algorithm suggest more MAGA-related content?"

Trump's revealing answer: "If I could, I'd make it 100 percent MAGA-related, I would. It's actually a good question. I would. Yeah. If I could make it 100 percent MAGA, I would, but it's not going to work out that way, unfortunately. No, everyone is going to be treated fairly."

🤯 Spotify's war against 'spammy' music

Here's a mind-boggling stat via this Spotify press release: "In the past 12 months alone, a period marked by the explosion of generative AI tools, we've removed over 75 million spammy tracks from Spotify." The company is highlighting its efforts to stop "bad actors and content farms" from confusing listeners with "slop." THR's Abid Rahman has more here...

More tech talk

 >> Amazon's historic settlement with the FTC entails $1.5 billion in refunds to customers who were "harmed by their deceptive Prime enrollment practices." (CNN)

 >> “Google is likely to be hit with its first fine under landmark new EU tech rules in the coming months." (Reuters)

 >> "Instagram is experimenting with bringing tools to control your own algorithm to Threads." (TechCrunch)

 >> Pay attention to this if you work in morning TV (or AM newsletters!): OpenAI "really, really wants you to start your day with ChatGPT Pulse." The new feature "does personalized research on your behalf overnight and serves you up a digest each morning." (The Verge)

Hollywood notes and quotes

 >> "Warner Bros' audacious $140 million swing, Paul Thomas Anderson's 'One Battle After Another,' opens this weekend," and it's on track to be "Anderson's biggest opening ever at the box office." (Deadline)

 >> More big late-night news this week! Taylor Swift "is set to return to 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' on Oct. 6," a few days after her album drops. (Variety)

 >> 20th Century Studios has shared a new trailer for "Avatar: Fire and Ash." (YouTube)

This edition of Reliable Sources was edited by Andrew Kirell and produced with Liam Reilly. Email us your feedback and tips here.