{"id":164255,"date":"2025-09-23T17:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/164255\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T17:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:02:10","slug":"wall-street-firm-calls-for-disney-to-shut-down-abc-move-content-to-streaming-after-jimmy-kimmel-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/164255\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street firm calls for Disney to shut down ABC, move content to streaming after Jimmy Kimmel drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walt\u00a0Disney\u00a0should shut down the ABC network rather than sell it and transfer the channel\u2019s content to its streaming platforms to lower regulatory risks and unlock higher valuation, brokerage Needham wrote in a client note on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The recent \u201cFCC intervention has made owning broadcasting licenses too expensive and too volatile for DIS shareholders,\u00a0in our view,\u201d\u00a0the brokerage said.<\/p>\n

Disney\u2019s\u00a0decision\u00a0to take Kimmel\u2019s show off the air last week<\/a> added fuel to the debate of free speech in America amid conservative uproar around the late-night host\u2019s comments surrounding the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n

\"TVJimmy Kimmel\u2019s suspension came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to investigate the late night TV host\u2019s commentary about Charlie Kirk. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The suspension came after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to investigate Kimmel\u2019s commentary about Kirk, sparking questions around regulatory authority as federal law prohibits the FCC from revoking a broadcaster\u2019s license for negative coverage or other speech the government dislikes.<\/p>\n

Disney\u00a0also faced consumer backlash over Kimmel\u2019s suspension, with some subscribers responding by canceling their\u00a0Disney+ streaming service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the current brouhaha over \u2018Live with Jimmy Kimmel\u2019 might force (CEO Bob) Iger to reconsider his plans, I don\u2019t envision a scenario where a sale, spinoff, or shutdown of ABC TV happens any time soon,\u201d said Paul Verna, vice president of content at Emarketer, adding that live sports TV programming still drives significant advertising and subscription revenue for the company.<\/p>\n

ABC is very important for\u00a0Disney\u2019s audience reach and sports rights negotiations, even as streaming grows. However, the business has seen declining performance in recent years, mirroring industry-wide trends as audiences increasingly shift to streaming.<\/p>\n

Disney\u00a0on Monday\u00a0announced the return of the comedian to late-night television<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoThe recent \u201cFCC intervention has made owning broadcasting licenses too expensive and too volatile for DIS shareholders,\u00a0in our view,\u201d\u00a0Needham said. SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The media firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Needham note.<\/p>\n

ABC averaged only 2.4 million viewers in prime time, across both its broadcast and cable channels, during the summer of 2025, according to the note, citing Nielsen data.<\/p>\n

Late-night shows and cable news hosts have frequently jested about President Donald Trump and his cabinet, escalating a crackdown on his perceived media critics through litigation and regulatory warnings.<\/p>\n

In July, Paramount announced the\u00a0cancellation\u00a0of Stephen Colbert\u2019s late-night show<\/a>, saying the decision was unrelated to legal matters. Colbert called Paramount\u2019s $16 million settlement with Trump \u201ca big fat bribe\u201d two days before he was told his show was canceled.<\/p>\n

In December,\u00a0ABC paid $15\u00a0million to settle Trump\u2019s defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos\u2019 remarks on the E. Jean Carroll case<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walt\u00a0Disney\u00a0should shut down the ABC network rather than sell it and transfer the channel\u2019s content to its streaming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2086,53882,45,49,48,3494,75,18028,4592,7607,5131,348,6495],"class_list":["post-164255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-abc","tag-bob-iger","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-disney","tag-entertainment","tag-fcc","tag-jimmy-kimmel","tag-media","tag-streaming","tag-tv","tag-wall-street"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}