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The Federal Communications Commission is likely to conduct an early review of Disney’s television licenses, in a move that has no recent precedent.
The move, first reported by Semaphore, is sure to be seen as retaliation after President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump called for the firing of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel yesterday, though it’s actually not clear whether the FCC will cite Kimmel if and when it formally requests the licenses.
The FCC, led by Chairman Brendan Carr, has two open investigations into Disney and ABC, one into the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which it opened last year, and another into the company’s practices. The view Due to the emergence of Texas Senate candidate James Talarico on the equal opportunity rule. The new move is believed to be linked to the DEI investigation, although details remain murky at the moment.
It’s important to note that the FCC only oversees broadcast licenses owned by Disney. The company owns eight local television stations, including WBAC in New York and KABC in Los Angeles. The licenses were not scheduled to be renewed until 2028.
“This is unprecedented, illegal, and going nowhere,” Democratic FCC Commissioner Ana Gomez said in a statement. “It’s a political ploy and it won’t last. Businesses must challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.”
Coincidentally, the FCC opened an early license review on Monday against Bridge News, LLC, citing public interest criteria.
Carr has repeatedly said over the past few months that early review of broadcast licenses is an FCC option, and that he expects there will be legal action between the FCC and at least one network before President Trump’s term ends.
Any effort to revoke these licenses would take a long time and would be conducted in court, where Disney could cite First Amendment protections, Gomez hinted. Even if the FCC succeeds, the move will not remove ABC from the airwaves.
In an interview with Katie Miller scheduled to be released Tuesday, Carr raised the issue again when discussing the FCC’s investigation into Disney’s DEI practices.
“There are a lot of options. You have a license. Licenses come to you every now and then. You can step up when a license comes to you and say, ‘Hey, we have significant concerns about the value of doing your operations. We want to review your license now and decide whether you’re in the public interest,'” Carr said in a clip Miller posted early on. “If we find that the broadcaster didn’t do that, the law requires us to issue an order setting a hearing.”
The FCC did not respond to a request for comment as of writing, and a Disney spokesperson declined to comment.
