ABC demands FCC drop its ‘punitive’ early license renewal of its stations

ABC filed its formal opposition to the Federal Communications Commission’s effort to force it to submit to an early renewal of its broadcast station licenses, calling it an effort to chill the speech of broadcasters across the country.

In a new filing with the FCC, ABC charges that the agency’s willingness to pursue the early renewal of eight of its licenses far before they expire is “extraordinary and unprecedented.” The company alleges the FCC “has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the Stations’ licenses,” but charges that the agency’s real motivations for pursuing these licenses are clear: “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 FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The FCC ordered ABC to file for early license renewal for the stations in April, noting that it had been investigating the company for potential violations of the law and FCC rules, “including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination,” an apparent reference to its probe into ABC and owner Disney’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs.

The station license fight has led to an outpouring of support for ABC, including from viewers it urged with on-air ads to file public comments. More than 153,000 comments have been left on the FCC docket, including from a bipartisan group of former FCC chairs and officials who slammed the agency’s action as part of a “broader pattern” in a “campaign to punish speech disfavored by the Trump administration.”

The FCC under Republican Chair Brendan Carr has repeatedly targeted ABC for actions he claims violate their obligation as a publicly licensed broadcaster to serve the public interest. That included threatening the company’s licenses over a joke late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel made on air after conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing, and attempting to penalize “The View” for platforming a Democratic candidate, positing it could be subject to equal time rules the agency previously ruled it was exempt from. Some of these actions have earned Carr criticism even from administration allies like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who likened the chair to a “mafioso” over his threat over the Kimmel comments.

“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,” ABC wrote in its latest filing. “The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely.”