Disney and ABC sue the FCC over “retaliatory” license review tied to ABC programming

The FCC threats to revoke ABC’s licenses follow decades of efforts to diminish the federal government’s ability to do exactly what the FCC now seems to want.

Disney and ABC sued the federal government Tuesday, accusing it of violating Disney's free speech rights, a response to threats over Jimmy Kimmel, "The View," and ABC News.

Joe Flint, reporting for The Wall Street Journal (gift link): Walt Disney’s ABC has sued the Federal Communications Commission alleging the agency’s efforts to challenge its broadcast licenses and regulate its talk show “The View” are illegal and an effort to quash speech the Trump administration finds objectionable. In a suit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, ABC said, “Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech — the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air. Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.” This is how you handle a bully: “Fuck you, make me.” Our local 6ABC affiliate here in Philadelphia is the highest-profile station that the FCC has targeted for a bogus “license review”. It’s impossible for someone who doesn’t live here to understand just how dominant a media presence 6ABC Action News is. The Action News theme song is, effectively, the city of Philadelphia’s theme song. Watch this and you’ll get it, trust me.  ★ 

Disney and ABC sued the FCC, saying the Trump administration was trying to punish them for content it disliked and calling it an “assault on free speech.”

Disney and ABC are suing the FCC to block an early review of eight station licenses, arguing the Trump administration is using the agency's regulatory power to punish the network over programming and editorial decisions it dislikes. Reuters reports: In a lawsuit (PDF) filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, Disney said the FCC was seeking to coerce and retaliate against "a network that refuses to bow to the administration's demands," calling the agency's actions an "extraordinary assault on free speech." Trump has waged an aggressive series of attacks on the news media and the latest move follows a two-year-long battle between Trump and Disney. Last month, Trump again called for ABC stations to lose their licenses because the network refused to air a prime-time speech on elections. The court case will pose a key test of the free speech rights of media outlets. Disney and ABC asked the court (PDF) to quickly issue a temporary restraining order halting the license renewal proceedings and preventing the FCC from scheduling a hearing. The company said the public comment period ended earlier this month and the FCC could act at any time. The lawsuit alleges that the administration is violating the company's First Amendment free speech rights, saying that the FCC "is using its regulatory power to retaliate against (Disney and ABC) for programming and editorial decisions the administration dislikes." The FCC said the move stemmed from a year-long investigation into whether Disney's diversity policies amounted to unlawful discrimination, an allegation the company denies. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued an order on Tuesday directing the company and the FCC to propose a schedule for considering the request for a temporary restraining order and told the agency to notify her if it moves to start the process of revoking the ABC licenses. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

One of the world’s most powerful brands is standing up to Trump.  Disney will go to bat for ABC in a new federal lawsuit that accuses the Trump administration of wielding its regulatory power to punish political enemies. In the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Disney and ABC are asking the courts to intervene after the FCC ordered the network to file early to renew licenses for its eight local TV stations.  The FCC, which regulates television stations, made the request in April in spite of the fact that the stations’ licenses weren’t due to be renewed until late 2028. “The Commission has demanded a review of the Stations’ licenses extraordinarily early,” the new lawsuit states.  “…That timing underscores the Commission’s true purpose: coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration’s demands.” ABC and Disney are asking for the court to issue a temporary restraining order to freeze the renewal process. The early renewal order came from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who has already proven his willingness to pursue President Trump’s political battles through the federal regulatory agency. While the agency says that it is reviewing ABC’s broadcast license over concerns stemming from the company’s DEI practices.  The FCC’s review was announced shortly after President Trump called for ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel to be “immediately fired” following the late night host’s joke about Melania Trump having a “glow like an expectant widow.” The FCC is also investigating ABC’s long-running talk show “The View” over claims that the programming is in violation of rules that require giving all political candidates equal broadcast time. The lawsuit makes it clear that Disney and ABC believe that they could lose their broadcast license if the FCC decides to hold a hearing instead of approving the renewal request. ABC suspended Kimmel last September after the host speculated that Charlie Kirk’s shooter was part of the MAGA movement and accused the president’s supporters of trying to “score political points” in the aftermath of his death. Later that month, Trump told reporters that TV networks were “97% negative” about him and threatened to revoke the licenses that make it possible for them to broadcast.  “They give me only bad publicity [and] press,” Trump said. “I mean, they’re getting a licence. I would think maybe their licence should be taken away.”  Drama and mergers in a new broadcast era Last month, a bipartisan group of former FCC officials warned that the FCC’s “unprecedented” early renewal request was designed to have a chilling effect on broadcasters. “This early license renewal proceeding is… a grave violation of both the Communications Act and the Constitution,” the group wrote. “Through this proceeding, the FCC seeks to censor Disney’s and ABC’s speech and send a chilling message to all broadcasters: carry speech we don’t like at your peril.”  Conservative groups have filed petitions calling on the FCC to pull ABC’s license, accusing the network of “a consistent and overt partisan bias.” Meanwhile, federal antitrust enforcers including the FCC paved the way for the successful mega-merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount Skydance, a deal that has already remade CBS News to the liking of the company’s new owner, David Ellison. Ellison is the son of billionaire Oracle cofounder and Trump donor Larry Ellison. “Again and again, the Administration has attacked ABC’s speech—the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,” ABC and Disney state in the lawsuit. “Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.”

The FCC has responded to a lawsuit filed by Disney and ABC over what they claim is a "retaliatory campaign" by the Trump administration. The post FCC Responds to Lawsuit Filed by Disney, ABC over License Renewal appeared first on Breitbart.

"Government censorship is deeply un-American," the lawsuit states, before listing numerous times the government has tried to censor it.

The media giant said the FCC was trying to punish it for its programming and journalism, a claim the president disputes.

The network accuses the administration of retaliating against ABC because it "disapproves of what ABC broadcasts".

Disney accuses Trump administration of targeting ABC over its broadcasts as FCC licence row escalates

FCC faces scrutiny as Disney claims licence renewal order is tied to political motives against ABC's coverage.

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Disney-owned ABC television network sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Tuesday over a potential threat to its broadcast licenses. The suit accuses the Trump administration, through the regulatory body, of waging a "retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts." "Over time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech," it says. The suit, filed in a federal district court in Washington, comes after the FCC earlier this year asked Disney-owned TV stations to renew their broadcast licenses earlier than scheduled. President Donald Trump has personally lashed out at ABC on several occasions, particularly the network's late night host Jimmy Kimmel, and has suggested removing broadcast licenses. "For months, the Administration has steadily increased the pressure on ABC, culminating in the present threat to the broadcasting licenses of the eight ABC Owned Stations," the suit says. "The Commission has demanded a review of the Stations' licenses extraordinarily early," it says. "That timing underscores the Commission's true purpose: coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration's demands."

Disney and ABC on Tuesday sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that the Trump administration is attempting to censor journalists by urging the agency to conduct an early review of ABC's broadcasting licenses. The lawsuit alleges the administration waged a "retaliatory campaign" on ABC and encouraged the FCC to use its regulatory power to...

The lawsuit, which was filed in Washington, DC, federal court, seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on the FCC’s review of eight of Disney’s licenses – including ABC channels in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Disney and ABC are suing President Trump’s Federal Communications Commission, arguing that the administration’s demand that eight of their stations file their broadcast license renewals early is an attack on their free speech. “Acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts,” the lawsuit reads. “That campaign began in this Administration’s earliest days and has only intensified since.... Again and again, the administration ​has attacked ABC’s speech — the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air.” This FCC’s threat to strip the ABC channels of their broadcast licenses followed a joke from late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel last spring, in which he said First Lady Melania Trump glowed “like an expectant widow” two days before the failed White House Correspondents’ Dinner attack. The joke caused a massive uproar from MAGAworld, including the president himself, who called for Kimmel’s termination. The lawsuit specifically cites Trump’s Truth Social posts calling for Kimmel’s termination as proof of the administration’s bias against him.“The Commission issued an unprecedented order requiring the Stations to file early applications to renew their licenses—years before any of their licenses would have come up for renewal in the ordinary course and allowing only thirty days to file applications which ordinarily take months to prepare,” the suit continued.Kimmel was also attacked by the Trump administration for joking about how Republicans responded to the death of Charlie Kirk last year. Disney briefly pulled Kimmell off the air after pressure from FCC Chair Brendan Carr. The FCC attack came amid a probe into the daytime talk show The View for being too woke. The lawsuit from Disney—one of the biggest and most recognizable media companies ever—is an aggressive defense of media freedom, rather than another capitulation as we’ve seen from other networks. This story has been updated.

US media giant accuses Federal Communications Commission of cracking down because it ‘disapproves’ of its broadcasts

Disney says the Trump administration “has attacked ABC’s speech — the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air.”