Disney’s ABC has urged the FCC to toss out petitions calling for the agency to deny the renewal of broadcast licenses for ABC’s eight owned-and-operated TV stations, asserting that the agency is targeting the stations because President Donald Trump doesn’t like the programming carried on the network.
“For years, President Trump has expressly demanded that the Commission revoke ABC’s broadcast licenses for speech he dislikes,” ABC said in an FCC filing submitted July 29. “Since his appointment, Chairman Carr has subsequently opened all manner of investigations and issued a slew of burdensome investigatory requests.”
The FCC’s Media Bureau in April issued an order forcing ABC to reapply for spectrum licenses for its eight owned-and-operated stations on an accelerated schedule. The agency claimed it was part of its probe into DEI practices at Disney and ABC — but the move came one day after Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke the late-night host made about First Lady Melania Trump.
The First Amendment Fight
“For the first time in history, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an entire group of local television stations commonly owned with a broadcast network to undergo simultaneous license renewal proceedings well before their current licenses expire,” ABC said in the filing. “There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations: Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs.”
“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the filing said. “Calling up the license of a single Station — let alone all eight at once — while the Commission’s DEI investigation has found no violation is unnecessary, premature, and punitive.”
The Petitions to Deny
Two conservative advocacy groups, the Center for American Rights and the Media Research Center, filed petitions with the FCC requesting ABC’s station licenses not be renewed.
The Center for American Rights argued that ABC’s stations are not operating “in the public interest,” alleging the network’s programs “show a consistent and overt partisan bias” and that “ABC engages in explicit racial and gender discrimination.” The Media Research Center said ABC’s license renewals should be denied because of its alleged “notorious efforts to improperly influence national elections.”
ABC responded that “the few petitions submitted in opposition to the Stations’ applications come not from their local communities, but from interest groups with a mission to persuade the FCC to exert editorial control over the programming of networks like ABC.” It added that the petitioners “identify no violation of the Communications Act or FCC rules of any kind.”
Public Support for ABC
The agency has received more than 153,000 comments on the proceeding — fueled by Disney’s campaign across the eight local stations urging viewers to share comments about the FCC’s review.
“The outpouring of support for the Stations has been unprecedented for a license renewal proceeding,” ABC said. “Over 140,000 comments have been received from the Stations’ local communities — from individual viewers to local police and firefighters, charities, businesses, and schools — and over 95% support the Stations.”
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of former FCC officials urged the current agency leadership to terminate the “unprecedented” ABC proceeding, which they deemed an unconstitutional abridgement of the First Amendment. ABC also has received support from a consortium of 22 advocacy organizations, including the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The FCC’s Response
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last week said the agency will consider ABC’s decision not to carry a live broadcast of Trump’s July 16 speech about U.S. election security as part of its review. “I think that when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that’s something that broadcasters should be carrying,” Carr said.
Anna Gomez, the agency’s only Democratic commissioner, pushed back on Carr’s assertion that broadcasters are compelled to carry a president’s speech.
The Bottom Line
Disney’s ABC has urged the FCC to reject petitions denying its TV license renewals, calling the proceedings “unprecedented” and “punitive” retaliation for content Trump dislikes. The FCC ordered ABC to reapply for licenses on an accelerated schedule after Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired. Two conservative groups have petitioned to deny the renewals, but ABC says they identify no actual violations. Over 95% of more than 153,000 public comments support ABC. A bipartisan group of former FCC officials and 22 advocacy organizations have backed ABC’s First Amendment defense.
