In a unprecedented flip of occasions that nobody noticed coming (besides perhaps Elon Musk), ABC has reportedly misplaced virtually 1 million subscribers in a single day. The trigger? A single tweet from none apart from the tech billionaire himself, who, following ABC’s controversial moderation of the latest presidential debate, declared the community “unwatchable” and known as for a boycott. In true Musk trend, his legions of followers heeded his name virtually immediately, turning what started as a late-night social media gripe right into a full-blown media disaster for certainly one of America’s most iconic tv networks.

It began when Elon Musk, recent off a collection of cryptic posts about area journey and cryptocurrency, determined to weigh in on ABC’s dealing with of the much-anticipated presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis, the talk shortly turned contentious, with accusations of bias flying from all sides. Musk, who apparently tuned in along with his popcorn prepared, was unimpressed by what he noticed as blatant favoritism towards Harris.

“ABC is trash,” Musk tweeted late that evening, clearly not one to mince phrases. “They’re a shame to journalism. Boycott them. Let’s take ‘em down!”

What began as a seemingly offhand comment from the person who as soon as promised to ship Dogecoin to the moon quickly took on a lifetime of its personal. Inside minutes, #BoycottABC was trending throughout Twitter/X, and the social media big (which, funnily sufficient, is owned by Musk) turned floor zero for a tidal wave of anti-ABC sentiment. Musk’s followers, ever loyal and at all times fast to behave, instantly started canceling their ABC subscriptions en masse.

By morning, the outcomes have been in: ABC had misplaced near 1 million subscribers in a single day, an exodus so quick and livid that community executives have been reportedly scrambling to determine cease the bleeding.

The presidential debate in query, whereas anticipated to be a heated affair, had no concept it will spark a subscriber purge of this magnitude. Moderators Muir and Davis have been tasked with managing the verbal sparring between Trump and Harris, however many viewers, notably these in Trump’s nook (and Musk’s followers), felt the moderators have been far harsher on Trump.

“Trump couldn’t get a phrase in with out being interrupted or fact-checked. It was a joke,” one pissed off viewer stated. “In the meantime, Kamala was principally given free rein to do a TED Speak.”

Whereas presidential debates are at all times rife with complaints about equity, it was Elon Musk’s entry into the fray that actually modified the sport. As a substitute of viewers merely tuning out or switching channels, Musk took the daring step of asking his huge fanbase to take motion—and boy, did they ever.

“ABC is simply one other cog within the biased media machine,” Musk tweeted. “It’s time for the folks to combat again. Cancel your subscriptions and present them we gained’t stand for this nonsense anymore.”

Musk’s name to motion resonated with lots of his followers, who see the billionaire as one thing of a digital crusader free of charge speech and equity. Nearly instantly, folks started canceling their subscriptions to ABC’s streaming providers and unfollowing the community’s social media accounts.

“I wasn’t even watching ABC anymore, but when Elon says they’re biased, then I’m out,” one X person tweeted after posting a screenshot of their canceled Hulu subscription. “I belief Elon greater than any community.”

ABC, for its half, appeared fully unprepared for the sheer velocity and depth of the backlash. Inside hours, almost 1 million subscribers had vanished, leaving the community reeling from the unprecedented loss. Whereas ABC is not any stranger to political controversy, the mix of Musk’s affect and his large, engaged fanbase made this incident one thing fully totally different.

Because the subscriber depend continued to plummet, ABC shortly scrambled to place out a press release, although many viewers noticed it as too little, too late.

“ABC stays dedicated to journalistic integrity and offering balanced protection of all political occasions. We take severely our accountability to tell the general public and welcome constructive dialogue from all viewers,” the community stated in a press launch.

The imprecise and considerably company assertion did little to quell the rising anger from Musk’s followers, who noticed it as additional proof that ABC was out of contact with its viewers. The hashtag #CancelABC continued to development all through the day, with folks accusing the community of refusing to handle the true difficulty—what they noticed as biased protection in the course of the debate.

“Elon Musk known as them out, they usually’re performing like nothing occurred,” one person tweeted. “We’re not silly. We noticed the bias. They’ve misplaced all credibility.”

Elon Musk has at all times been a grasp of leveraging social media to his benefit, and this newest incident is not any exception. With a single tweet, Musk managed to show a regular difficulty of media bias right into a full-blown subscriber revolt, showcasing as soon as once more the extraordinary affect he holds over public opinion and shopper conduct.

However why goal ABC? Some analysts consider Musk’s actual gripe with the community goes past a single debate. Musk has lengthy been essential of mainstream media, accusing it of unfair protection not solely of politics however of his corporations as properly. Tesla, SpaceX, and now X (previously Twitter) have all confronted their fair proportion of media scrutiny, and it’s no secret that Musk isn’t a fan of what he perceives as biased reporting.

“ABC is simply the tip of the iceberg,” one media analyst commented. “Musk is sending a message to your entire media panorama: play honest, or face the implications. He’s proving that he can mobilize thousands and thousands of individuals with a single tweet, and that’s extremely highly effective.”

As with all main Musk-related occasion, the web didn’t simply react—it erupted. Memes of Elon Musk single-handedly toppling ABC flooded social media, with some customers joking that Musk might most likely “purchase ABC and switch it right into a rocket launchpad” if he wished to.

Others joked that this was simply one other step in Musk’s inevitable rise to turning into the ruler of all media. “Elon Musk goes to purchase ABC, rename it ‘XBC,’ and we’re all going to look at debates hosted by his AI robotic,” one person quipped.

Nonetheless, for all of the jokes and memes, there was an underlying sense of actual change. For years, mainstream media networks have appeared untouchable, however Musk’s actions confirmed that even the most important networks aren’t proof against the ability of social media and on-line actions.

ABC now faces an unsure future because it grapples with the fallout from Musk’s boycott. Will they difficulty a extra direct response? Will they try and regain misplaced subscribers by tweaking their content material or addressing considerations of bias? Or will they merely hope that the storm passes and subscribers return as soon as the mud settles?

For now, the community appears to be in damage-control mode, holding emergency conferences and reportedly discussing methods to win again their viewers. However one factor is obvious: Elon Musk’s affect is bigger than ever, and ABC, together with the remainder of the media world, is now painfully conscious of the price of getting on his dangerous facet.

NOTE: That is SATIRE, it’s not actual information.