Following the FCC’s order, Disney-owned ABC said it has submitted license renewal applications for eight of its local television stations to the FCC “in response to protests.”
Last month, the FCC’s Bureau of Media issued an unprecedented order forcing ABC to reapply for spectrum licenses for eight stations it owns and operates on an accelerated schedule. The move comes days after President Trump called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke the late-night show host made about first lady Melania Trump.
The FCC, led by President Trump-appointed Commissioner Brendan Carr, has publicly stated that the accelerated review of the ABC license follows the agency’s investigation into potential violations of discrimination provisions by Disney and ABC through the media conglomerate’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. Asked at an April 30 press conference whether Kimmel’s joke would play a role in the FCC’s review of ABC’s license, Carr said Disney “will have to step in and prove it’s operating in the public interest.”
In Thursday’s filing, ABC does not directly cite Kimmel’s first lady Melania Trump joke (which said the first lady was “glowing like a pregnant widow”), but points out that the order was issued on the heels of the MAGA uproar over Kimmel’s joke and claims the FCC is retaliating against the station for disparaging speech.
In its license renewal application, the network argues that the FCC order’s “real purpose and inevitable effect is to stifle speech, accelerate the path toward possible license revocation, and force broadcasters and other stakeholders to think twice before saying anything that the government may dislike.” Therefore, ABC says the order violates the First Amendment.
“The ultimate harm here is not to the station or its parent company; it is to the general public,” WABC’s filing states. “When broadcasters have to consider regulatory retaliation before making editorial decisions, the public loses access to journalism free of government influence. Order advances precisely that outcome, both on its own terms and as a signal to other broadcasters. A news organization that edits itself to avoid displeasing the government is not a free press, and the commission should not be an instrument of that outcome.”
In a complaint to New York’s WABC-TV, the network called the FCC’s order “unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional.” The ABC’s eight frequency licenses are due to be renewed in 2028 at the earliest, with some not expiring until 2031.
“The Commission has not required early renewal in more than 50 years, and has never before required simultaneous license renewal applications from a group of stations that share and own a network,” WABC’s application states.
The network continued: “The order has no legitimate purpose. The application reveals no information that the commission could not otherwise obtain. The order is inconsistent with the legitimate exercise of investigative power and is clearly inconsistent with the First Amendment. Worse. Worst of all, the order opens the door to attacks on broadcaster licenses, while the commission seeks legal excuses to achieve its intended objectives. This effort to suppress speech disguised as a bureaucratic process must never occur.” WABC files this application without waiving any rights and requests the Commission to revoke the order. ”
“Elsewhere, the FCC has worked to identify and eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulations; here it is doing the opposite, unearthing arcane procedural artifacts that have been dormant for decades to justify its actions,” the WABC filing said. “The current ‘call-up’ provisions were designed for a regulatory world that no longer exists, an era of shortened license terms, comparative hearings that weigh applicants’ merits, and radically updated screenings of program content. That world is over.”
ABC said the FCC’s claim that it ordered an early license renewal review “does not stand up to scrutiny because the FCC is investigating Disney’s ABC stations for “possible violations” of prohibitions against unlawful discrimination. The path to investigating such potential violations is clearly through an investigation into that very subject, which the Commission began in June 2025 and has continued since.” In the DEI investigation, Disney produced more than 11,000 pages of response documents “on a mutually agreed schedule,” according to the WABC filing, and the FCC Enforcement Division “has never suggested that existing tools are inadequate for any investigation, and has touted the same tools elsewhere as providing ‘broad legal authority to investigate questions that may arise under any provision of the law.'”
The eight local television stations owned by ABC are WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KTRK-TV Houston, KGO-TV San Francisco, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and KFSN-TV Fresno, California.
Separately, the FCC began enforcement proceedings earlier this year in a case in which Kerr alleged that the daytime talk show “The View” violated equal time rules involving political candidates over an appearance by James Talarico, a Democrat running for the Texas Senate. The FCC is considering whether The View qualifies as a “bona fide” news organization and is therefore exempt from equal time rules.
In a May 7 filing, ABC objected to “The View”‘s proceedings, saying the FCC’s actions “could upend decades of established law and practice and chill critical protected speech.” ABC said in its regulatory filing that the Trump administration “has publicly expressed its disapproval of the views expressed on ‘The View.'” “But the government has no legitimate interest in declaring one point of view more valuable than another.”
Mr. Carr, a Trump supporter, has threatened several times to use FCC regulators to review or revoke the licenses of television stations that air programs he finds offensive, including Mr. Kimmel’s on-air comments last September about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Anna Gomez, the only Democratic member of the FCC’s three current commissioners, sent an unusual letter to Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro on May 11, encouraging the media’s pushback against the Trump administration’s efforts to “punish and intimidate” Disney and ABC through “weaponizing the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator.” Gomez cited the FCC’s actions targeting ABC over comments made by Kimmel and the host of “The View.”
“Journalists do important work for millions of Americans across the country, and the viewers who stood up to defend Jimmy Kimmel are the same viewers who will stand up again if this FCC follows through on its threats,” Gomez wrote in a letter to D’Amaro. “I’m heartened to see Disney choosing courage over surrender. The fight ahead may not be easy, but the law, the facts, and the people are on your side. This is a fight worth fighting, and I’m confident you’ll win.”
