Disney’s Kimmel Whiplash: Why an ABC late-night firestorm could ripple into indie licensing — and hand Ellison a quiet edge

Disney just walked into a buzzsaw. What started as a late-night decision around Jimmy Kimmel has snowballed into a broader perception problem, and perception—right now—is currency. In an industry where churn, pricing, and portfolio positioning are all moving at once, a PR bruise in one division can tighten appetites in another. That matters for indie distributors and filmmakers chasing licensing deals.

The timing here isn’t ideal. Disney is pushing through another round of subscription price hikes while trying to convince customers their bundle is still the best value in town. Meanwhile, Paramount—now under the Ellison banner—keeps telegraphing zero-sum tactics that could give the landscape a facelift in late-2025 and 2026. Put simply: the buyers you pitch are recalibrating, but not all in the same direction.

Here’s the question we explore in this article: how does a seemingly unrelated fracas around an ABC host translate into real-world changes for feature licensing—and where does that create opportunity for indies in the next two quarters?

What happened, why it matters, and how to aim your pitch

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