Posted in: ABC, TV | Tagged: ABC, disney, fcc

Disney/ABC Filing Looks to Shut Down FCC Chair Carr's "Retaliation"

Disney/ABC continues to push back on FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, arguing in a new filing that it's a victim of Trump-inspired retaliation.

Published Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:07:10 -0500

by Ray Flook

Comments

A little more than a week ago, Trump's FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, claimed that ABC's decision not to air Trump's running line of election conspiracy theories would affect its license renewal process. But that was only Carr's latest move against Disney-owned ABC. Previously, Carr ordered Disney to "file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days." What that meant was that, instead of going through the renewal process in 2028 and 2031, Disney's 8 ABC stations (Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno) were required to submit their paperwork by May 28th, 2026. Though Carr claimed the move was part of the FCC's investigation into the company's DEI practices, Disney saw it as retaliation for past issues the Trump Administration had with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel and ABC News. In addition, the FCC has also targeted the popular daytime talk show The View, calling into question whether the talker should be classified as a legitimate news program and subject to the "Equal Time" rule – a move many say is a response to the show's constant criticism of Trump.

With both sides readying for what could be a long legal battle, Disney/ABC is making its case to have the petitions seeking to have those stations' licenses revoked thrown out, while also reaffirming its claim that the Carr's actions are a retaliatory move at Trump's behest. "For years, President Trump has expressly demanded that the Commission revoke ABC's broadcast licenses for speech he dislikes," ABC shared in an FCC filing submitted on Wednesday, July 29th, and posted publicly earlier today. "Since his appointment, Chairman [Brendan] Carr has subsequently opened all manner of investigations and issued a slew of burdensome investigatory requests."

"For the first time in history, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an entire group of local television stations commonly owned with a broadcast network to undergo simultaneous license renewal proceedings well before their current licenses expire. That makes these proceedings extraordinary and unprecedented," the filing continued. "There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations: Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC's licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs." However, they added, "denying a license renewal for disfavored speech would be outright censorship."

"The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: accommodate the Administration's view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price," the filing said. "Across the government, regulatory and contracting carrots and sticks have been trained on other disfavored speakers. The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely," the filing argued. "The FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the Stations' licenses. The Commission has found none, because the Stations easily meet the standard for license renewal, which under the law means that the Commission cannot revoke their licenses or order a hearing on their renewal applications."

Disney/ABC also makes the case that public sentiment is on its side, with the FCC receiving more than 153,000 comments – and according to Disney/ABC, over 95% of those comments supported the stations being targeted. "The outpouring of support for the Stations has been unprecedented for a license renewal proceeding," the filing reads. "Over 140,000 comments have been received from the Stations' local communities — from individual viewers to local police and firefighters, charities, businesses, and schools — and over 95% support the Stations. These supporters span the ideological spectrum but share a fundamental commitment to free speech and press freedom. This record demonstrates that the Stations serve the public interest with distinction."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!