{"id":670798,"date":"2026-05-28T21:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/670798\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T21:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:02:08","slug":"abc-tells-fcc-its-early-review-of-broadcast-licenses-chills-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/670798\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC Tells FCC Its Early Review Of Broadcast Licenses Chills Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Walt Disney Co.<\/a> and ABC<\/a> are once again pushing back on the FCC<\/a>, this time over the agency\u2019s demand that it file early renewal applications for its broadcast licenses, a move that the company calls a threat to the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt is an extraordinary demonstration of power and coercion directed at disfavored editorial voices which sends a clear warning to every broadcaster in America,\u201d the company said in a filing with the agency on Thursday, along with its renewal applications for eight of its stations.\u00a0\u201cThis is a threat to the First Amendment that this Commission and this proceeding must not be permitted to normalize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn April, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr<\/a> ordered Disney to submit early license renewals for its owned operated stations early, a highly unusual process required of broadcasters. The company\u2019s licenses were otherwise up for renewal starting in 2028.<\/p>\n

\n\tRead ABC\u2019s objection to the FCC\u2019s early renewal order<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe early renewal was related to the FCC\u2019s investigation of Disney\u2019s diversity, equity and inclusion policies, the FCC said. But it came just a day after Donald Trump<\/a> again called on ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a legal exhibit attached to the renewal applications, the company\u2019 claimed that the \u201ctrue purpose and inescapable effect\u201d of the FCC\u2019s order \u201care to suppress speech\u2014to ramp up toward possible license revocation\u201d and cause the stations \u201cand others to think twice before they say something the government might dislike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tABC pointed to statements made by \u201csenior government officials\u201d against the network and Disney, as well as Carr\u2019s warning that led to Kimmel\u2019s temporary suspension last fall. After Kimmel made a joke about the response on the right to the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, Carr said on a podcast that \u201cwe can do this the easy way or the hard way,\u201d warning of regulatory action.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe network also contended that the agency was exceeding its authority to act on a license renewal, as Congress decided that they must be evaluated on a full term. ABC also argued that the DEI investigation was a \u201cpretextual\u201d reason for ordering the early license renewal. As part of its DEI investigation, the FCC\u2019s enforcement bureau had sought additional documents from Disney, but the commission \u201ccannot explain why an extraordinary acceleration of license renewals was needed,\u201d the network said.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe network also said that its license renewal applications were made \u201cunder protest.\u201d They are for KABC-TV in Los Angeles; KFSN-TV in Fresco, CA; KGO-TV in San Francisco; KTRK-TV in Houston; WABC-TV in New York; WLC-TV in Chicago; WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and WTVD-TV in Durham, NC.<\/p>\n

\n\tEarlier this month, ABC also challenged the FCC\u2019s investigation of The View, amid claims that the show violated equal time rules after it featured James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, as a guest. Those regulations require that broadcasters that feature political candidates on their airwaves provide comparable time to rivals if requested. Among other things, ABC said that the show had received a \u201cbona fide news exemption\u201d from the FCC in 2002, and that it and other broadcast talk shows were being singled out while radio programs were not. Radio talk shows are dominated by conservative voices.<\/p>\n

\n\tDenial of a broadcast license renewal is extremely rare, and is a process that can drag out for years. In the immediate term, the FCC can now take public comment on ABC\u2019s license renewals and, among other things, designate the stations\u2019 fates for a hearing.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe FCC has to determine whether a broadcaster has operated in the public interest, a rather broad term that Carr has asserted gives him authority even over broadcast content. <\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough the agency\u2019s website states that it \u201cis prohibited by law from engaging in censorship or infringing on First Amendment rights of the press,\u201d Carr on Thursday issued a public notice reminding \u201cbroadcasters of their public interest obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Commission will continue to analyze ownership structures to ensure that they are responsive to the needs of their local communities and are providing them with diverse viewpoints reflective of the information needs of those communities,\u201d the notice stated.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong other things, the notice contended that \u201ccourts have recognized that there are limits on broadcasters\u2019 First Amendment rights.\u201d \u201cThe mere denial of a license because the public interest requires it \u2018is not a denial of free speech,’\u201d the FCC said in the public notice.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, wrote in a post on X, \u201cThe \u2018public interest\u2019 does not mean this administration\u2019s interests. Broadcasters should ignore these latest threats and stiffen their spine. Pushing back is the only thing that will stop this\u00a0FCC\u00a0from abusing its power to silence speech and punish independent reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn its filing on Thursday, ABC said that the FCC\u2019s early license renewal demand \u201cis inconsistent with a legitimate exercise of investigative authority and is plainly incompatible with the First Amendment.\u201d The network also said that \u201copens the door to an assault on\u201d station licenses, while \u201cthe Commission searches for a legal pretext to achieve its desired goal. This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe network also defended its hiring practices and recruitment efforts amid the FCC investigation. Carr has claimed that Disney may have engaged in \u201cinvidious\u201d forms of discrimination as it pursued diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. <\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, Carr told reporters that \u201cthere\u2019s at least evidence that was indicating that Disney had created racially segregated spaces inside the company. There\u2019s evidence indicating potentially that they were hiring based on race and gender and protected characteristics.\u201d He added that the evidence extended to promotion and compensation.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe network made separate filings for each of its eight stations. In the one for its New York station, WABC-TV, the network said that the outlet had operated \u201cconsistently with the laws governing discrimination in employment.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThe company noted that the FCC\u2019s Equal Employment Opportunity rule \u201cexpressly includes outreach activities that impact historically underrepresented groups such as \u2018[c]o-sponsoring at least one job fair with organizations in the business or professional community whose membership includes substantial participation of women and minorities\u2019 and \u2018[l]isting of each upper-level category opening in a job bank or newsletter of media trade groups whose membership includes substantial participation of women and minorities.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWABC\u2019s filing noted that the Commission \u201chas never articulated\u2014let alone adopted through notice-and-comment rulemaking\u2014any new standard for the EEO Rule.\u201d The station noted that the station\u2019s license was renewed \u201cless than two years ago without any concerns regarding its outreach activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe station, the network\u2019s filing stated, was \u201cnow being punished under an interpretation the Commission invented but has never promulgated or even fully articulated\u2014one that turns the longstanding EEO rules on their head. A licensee cannot be held to a standard it was never given notice of\u2014that is not enforcement, it is arbitrary, capricious, and a denial of due process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Walt Disney Co. and ABC are once again pushing back on the FCC, this time over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1855,17105,12,5109,88,3092,23107,92],"class_list":["post-670798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-abc","tag-brendan-carr","tag-donald-trump","tag-electionline","tag-entertainment","tag-fcc","tag-the-walt-disney-co","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}