Key Takeaways
ABC, Disney and eight local stations sued the FCC on August 18, asking a federal court in Washington to stop early renewal proceedings on the stations' broadcast licenses.
The FCC ordered that early review in April, citing the network's diversity practices, years before the licenses were set to expire.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr answered on Wednesday, calling the suit meritless and repeating that broadcasters owe the public an obligation the agency can enforce.
ABC and its parent company Disney sued the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, joined by the eight local stations whose licenses the agency put under early review. The complaint asks a federal court in Washington to stop the proceedings and argues that the review is retaliation for what the network broadcasts.
The FCC ordered the early review in April, itself a rare step, and cited the network's diversity practices as the reason. The timing is what the lawsuit leans on, because the order landed shortly after a joke by late night host Jimmy Kimmel angered the president. ABC has separately been fighting the agency's effort to apply equal time rules to "The View," a question ABC says the commission decided in the network's favor more than two decades ago.
In the complaint, the network told the court it faces an "existential threat" and no way out short of giving the administration what it wants. Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, said she was glad Disney had pushed back and described the license threat as a way to punish speech the administration dislikes.
Carr responded Wednesday in a post on X, calling it "a meritless case based on their own campaign of disinformation" and writing that all broadcasters, Disney included, have an obligation to operate in the public interest. He also said the FCC has made no decision in its investigation.
The most notable part of this is what the fight is not about. No rule has been broken and no license has been pulled. The argument is over whether a regulator can move up a review and let the calendar do the pressuring, a question that reaches every company holding a federal license. It is the same structural question running through the fight over the Greenbelt FBI headquarters, and it sits in the same accountability lane as the 29-state Meta trial now underway in Oakland. Variety has the filing details.
People Also Ask
Why did ABC sue the FCC? ABC and Disney say the FCC's April order for early renewal review of eight station licenses is retaliation for the network's news coverage and programming, which they argue violates the First Amendment.
What is an early broadcast license renewal review? Broadcast licenses run on fixed terms and are normally reviewed as they approach expiration. The FCC moved the review of eight ABC-owned stations up by years, which is rare.
What did Brendan Carr say about the lawsuit? The FCC chairman called it a meritless case built on disinformation and said broadcasters accepted public interest obligations in exchange for free use of the airwaves.
What happens next in the ABC FCC case? The federal court in Washington will decide whether to enjoin the FCC from continuing the early renewal proceedings while the case is heard. The FCC's underlying investigation remains open.