FCC launches review of Disney broadcast licenses
Federal Communications Commission wants an early review Disney’s The broadcast station licenses were pulled due to concerns about the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to a letter from the FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Tuesday.
The letter orders the company to file for early renewal for ABC-owned television stations and notes that the action is related to an investigation into Disney’s DEI efforts that began last year.
ABC-owned station licenses were originally due to be renewed between 2028 and 2031.
Disney confirmed Tuesday that it had received the FCC’s order to initiate expedited review of its licenses. Disney now has 30 days (or until May 28) to file for renewal, the FCC said in its letter.
“ABC and its stations have a long history of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and providing their local communities with reliable news, emergency information and public interest programming,” Disney said in a statement. he said. “We are confident that the records demonstrate our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment, and we are prepared to demonstrate this through the appropriate legal channels. Our focus remains, as always, on serving audiences in the local communities where our stations operate.”
The FCC’s move to seek early renewal from Disney comes as ABC faces renewed backlash from President Donald Trump this week following comments made by comedian Jimmy Kimmel in the opening monologue of his late-night TV show airing on the ABC network.
Trump said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show host then renewed his push for ABC to take Kimmel off the air. In last week’s demonstration, First Lady Melania Trump was referred to as a “widow in waiting” days before the alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
But the FCC, the federal agency that regulates the media and telecommunications industry, began investigating Disney stations last March for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules against unlawful discrimination.
The FCC said that since it began investigating, “Disney’s ABC has claimed to answer two questions.” Still, the agency said it determined further action was “appropriate.”
The decision lists eight stations subject to early renewal (three in California, the others in Illinois, New York, Texas, North Carolina and Pennsylvania), all of which are owned and operated by Disney. The early renewal call does not affect Disney’s subsidiaries operated by broadcast station owners. Nextstar Media Group.
Disney isn’t the only media company being investigated for its DEI efforts.
Under Carr, who was appointed by Trump, the FCC also began investigations last year. comcast, owned by NBCUniversal and extraordinaryBefore its merger with Skydance.
do not follow reports FCC Commissioner mentioned FCC’s intention to review ABC’s licenses early Tuesday Anna Gomez He called the move “unprecedented, unlawful and going nowhere.” a post on x“This political stunt won’t last. Corporations must oppose it head on. The First Amendment is on their side.”
First Amendment experts began weighing in on the FCC’s latest move Tuesday, and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The host was temporarily suspended in September following comments he made following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
At the time, Carr suggested that broadcast station licenses could be revoked in response.
“The FCC does not have the authority to revoke broadcasters’ licenses because of their perceived political views. But this is not just about Disney and ABC’s rights,” Jameel Jaffer, executive director of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, said in an emailed statement.
“President Trump is trying to solidify control over what Americans see and hear on radio, television and social media. If he gets his way, we will have government-aligned media outlets that publish only government-approved news and commentary. It is hard to imagine an outcome more corrosive to democracy or more offensive to the First Amendment,” Jaffer said. he said.
