Experts argue that ABC and Disney put itself in a tough situation by swiftly pulling Jimmy Kimmel's show for the foreseeable future after his remarks about Charlie Kirk's death. Though there is some distance between those who say ABC risks some backlash from viewers and those who say advertising dollars were more critical.
This underscores how the financial fallout for ABC and centers on the importance of advertising dollars for late night television, which has been falling precipitously since 2018.
Disney-owned ABC announced that "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was suspended indefinitely following his comments about Kirk's death at an event in Utah last week and the administration's response to it. ABC's suspension of Kimmel's show comes in the wake of the recent decision by Paramount, the parent company of CBS, to end "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" after its current season concludes.
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From a brand risk standpoint, Crystal Gorges, brand expert and publicist, believes that it’s actually more of a risk to pull him than to keep him.
"ABC and Disney are already under a microscope with the FCC pressure being so public, so viewers can easily connect the dots and interpret a suspension as political compliance rather than a programming decision," Gorges told FOX Business.
Gorges argued that the "financial danger isn’t so much advertisers walking away as it is alienating loyal viewers who see it as censorship."
"Loyal viewers who tune in night after night, or who pay for Disney/ABC bundle subscriptions, could feel like their voices are being silenced. That sense of alienation can quickly snowball into organized opposition, social media movements, or even subscriber cancellations," he said.
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He believes that the short-term advertising impact is manageable, and that the "long-term monetary risk comes from the ripple effects of being seen as caving to outside pressure." He underscored that the monetary risk is in the backlash to the perception of caving.
"Once a brand becomes a lightning rod for political or cultural backlash, the controversy can extend far beyond the original issue with Kimmel himself.
Like Gorges, Aaron Evans CEO of strategic communications and media agency Story Group, told FOX Business there is some danger for Disney/ABC in losing the trust of the audience.
Howevrer, Evans underscored that keeping Kimmel would have lost them droves of advertisers and, in turn, millions in revenue almost immediately.
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"If ABC hadn’t pulled Kimmel, the financial fallout would have been immediate—advertisers don’t wait out controversies, they walk, and that’s millions in lost revenue," Evans told FOX Business, adding that advertisers are "hypersensitive to controversy because they’re not just buying eyeballs, they’re investing in their brand story."
Evans said the last thing that a brand, especially a major consumer brand wants, "is to see its logo running next to content that half the country finds offensive or insensitive to something as horrible as a political assassination of someone beloved by Americas' youth—it creates instant backlash on social media and in the press."
Given that there are so many places to invest ad money, most would have seen that the risk simply wasn't worth it, according to Evans.
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"Once even a handful of household brands exit, it creates a domino effect, because no company wants to be the last one left holding the bag. For ABC, that could mean losing millions in a matter of weeks and a long-term devaluation of their late-night inventory," Evans said.
