ABC filed a letter directly opposing petitions calling for early license renewal for its local stations, citing over 150,000 comments submitted by the public largely in the network’s favor.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr demanded that ABC submit an early license renewal for its eight owned affiliate stations as part of an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices in April. A month later, ABC claimed the FCC was filing the early renewal “under protest” in response to the agency’s “unlawful, arbitrary and unconstitutional” order.
This has launched into a heated back-and-forth between the network and the FCC that now involves “The View.” The Wednesday filing calls on the FCC to “deny the Petitions to Deny, or alternatively, dismiss these early renewal proceedings as untimely and unwarranted.”
The network cited in the filing that the outpouring of support for the stations from the public has been “unprecedented.”
“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,” the filing read. “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.”
The deadline for submitting comments is Aug. 5. Additionally, roughly 370 local organizations and 236 elected officials have voiced their support for ABC, further urging the FCC to preserve the routine process — compared to just five or six groups opposing the renewals. The network has received bipartisan support from affected residents, senior citizens, veterans and military communities, as well as public safety organizations, public interest groups and non-profits.
“There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations,” the filing read. “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.”
Former FCC chairs and top agency officials from both sides of the political aisle called on Carr to end the license review of ABC’s local stations Tuesday. The group called the review the “latest attack in a sustained campaign” by the FCC and the Trump administration of “threatening legal sanctions against licensees whose speech President Trump dislikes.”
Though Carr has maintained the review is part of an ongoing investigation into Disney’s DEI policies, he suggested during his monthly press conference that ABC’s decision to limit coverage of President Donald Trump’s primetime address may factor into the proceeding.
In addition to the broadcast license renewal review, the FCC has launched a separate investigation into “The View” over its petition to qualify for a “bona fide” news exemption from equal time rules.
Carr accused Disney and ABC of running a “campaign of misinformation” after it launched ad spots looking to rally public support in the regulator’s reviews of “The View” and an early renewal of its eight owned stations’ broadcast licenses.
“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,” ABC’s new filing continued.
