The Federal Communications Commission has officially placed ABC and its parent company The Walt Disney Company under investigation.
According to the FCC order issued Tuesday, Disney’s ABC must file license renewal applications to renew broadcast licenses for all eight of its owned-and-operated television stations within 30 days, well ahead of the normal renewal schedule that would have stretched from 2028 to 2031.
The FCC stated it has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and agency rules, including the prohibition on unlawful discrimination. Regulators said ABC had responded to prior Letters of Inquiry, but “additional actions are appropriate at this time.”
The letter reads:
The FCC has been investigating The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Disney’s ABC”) for compliance with its obligations as a licensed broadcaster. Specifically, the FCC has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination. While Disney’s ABC has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) as part of this investigation, the FCC has determined that additional actions are appropriate at this time.
Specifically, FCC rules provide that whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal.1 Doing so both allows the FCC to conduct its ongoing investigation and enables the FCC to ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations more broadly.
The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard2 is essential within the meaning of agency regulations. Therefore, Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days–in other words, by May 28, 2026.
The eight ABC-owned stations reportedly affected include outlets in major U.S. markets:
New York
Los Angeles
Chicago
Philadelphia
Houston
San Francisco
Fresno
Durham, North Carolina
Disney responded with the predictable corporate statement, claiming ABC has a “long record” of compliance and trusted public service programming, while insisting it remains qualified under both the Communications Act and the First Amendment.
The move comes hot on the heels of President Donald Trump’s direct demand that Disney-ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after his vile, classless “joke” targeting First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow.” Kimmel’s disgusting monologue crossed every line of decency.
Read more:
President Trump Calls on Disney-ABC to Fire Jimmy Kimmel
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