By Harshita Mary Varghese and Zaheer Kachwala

(Reuters) -Walt Disney should shut down the ABC network rather than sell it and transfer the channel’s content to its streaming platforms to lower regulatory risks and unlock higher valuation, brokerage Needham wrote in a client note on Tuesday.

The recent “FCC intervention has made owning broadcasting licenses too expensive and too volatile for Disney shareholders, in our view,” the brokerage said.

Disney’s decision to take Kimmel’s show off the air last week added fuel to the debate of free speech in America amid conservative uproar around the late-night host’s comments surrounding the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

The suspension came after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to investigate

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