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Credit: Video Screenshot, 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', ABCA brokerage firm has urged The Walt Disney Company and its CEO Bob Iger to pull all ABC television content and shift to streaming in the wake of the recent scandal surrounding Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Disney pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show last week following comments the comedian made on air about President Donald Trump and other politicians’ reactions to the assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.
Last week, The Walt Disney Company indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the comedian mocked President Trump for responding to a question about his reaction to Kirk’s death. Trump said he was doing “very good,” and moved on to celebrating the construction of a new ballroom at the White House. Kimmel also said that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize” Kirk’s alleged killer “as anything other than one of them.”
Broadcasting groups Nexstar and Sinclair refused to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the wake of his comments. They published a list of demands for Kimmel to return to television–including a public apology to Kirk’s family and a donation to his conservative nonprofit, Turning Point USA. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to investigate Kimmel’s commentary about Kirk.
Kimmel’s suspension sparked widespread public debate about free speech and censorship, with critics on both sides of the political aisle. Countless consumers canceled Disney+ subscriptions and theme park vacations, slamming the Mouse House for what they saw as caving to political pressure. President Trump, however, argued that the comedian’s suspension had nothing to do with censorship.
“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” Trump said. “They should have fired him a long time ago, so you know, you can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”
On Monday, The Walt Disney Company announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return the following day. However, when Kimmel returned to the stage on Tuesday night, nearly 25% of American households couldn’t watch. Sinclair and Nexstar preempted the show on all their stations with local news coverage and said they would continue to do so indefinitely. Impacted viewers can watch clips of the show on YouTube or ABC.com and full episodes on DirecTV, Hulu + Live TV, or Fubo.
Given the threats from the FTC, Sinclair, Nexstar, brokerage Needham recommended that The Walt Disney Company shut down the ABC network and move all of the content to streaming platforms. In a client note, the brokerage claimed that television was “too volatile” to be valuable to Disney shareholders.
“FCC intervention has made owning broadcasting licenses too expensive and too volatile for Disney shareholders, in our view,” Needham wrote, according to Reuters.
The Walt Disney Company didn’t respond publicly to this reported notice.
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