FCC Orders Disney’s ABC To File Early License Renewals For Eight Stations By May 28, 2026

The Federal Communications Commission ordered The Walt Disney Company’s ABC to file early broadcast license renewals for its eight owned-and-operated television stations within 30 days, setting a deadline of May 28, 2026.

The FCC said the action is tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices and cites possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.

ABC News

In an order published Tuesday afternoon, the agency directed Disney’s ABC to file “license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days — in other words, by May 28, 2026,” according to CNN’s account of the FCC order.

CNBC reported that the FCC is seeking an early review of Disney’s broadcast station licenses “following concerns around the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts,” citing a letter from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

NBC News described the FCC’s move as an order directing Disney’s eight owned-and-operated television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule, with the FCC stating that the early renewal is “essential within the meaning of agency regulations.”

The stations named by the FCC include WABC-TV in New York, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WLS-TV in Chicago, WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, KTRK-TV in Houston, KGO-TV in San Francisco, WTVD-TV in Raleigh-Durham, and KFSN-TV in Fresno, according to LiveNOW from FOX.

Disney confirmed it received the FCC’s order and said it would pursue the process through “the appropriate legal channels,” while emphasizing that “ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules.”

Multiple outlets tied the FCC’s accelerated renewal order to a yearlong investigation into Disney’s DEI practices, while also describing how the timing followed renewed political pressure on ABC after Jimmy Kimmel’s comments about First Lady Melania Trump.

CNBC said the FCC began investigating Disney’s stations “last March” for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules regarding its prohibition on unlawful discrimination, and it added that the FCC said “Disney's ABC has purported to respond” to two inquiries.

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CNN and NBC News both linked the FCC’s action to Kimmel’s controversy, with CNN describing the FCC as “challenging the network’s station licenses” as the Trump administration pressures ABC to fire Kimmel.

NBC News reported that the FCC’s move was tied to a yearlong investigation into Disney’s DEI practices, “but it got fast-tracked after ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made a joke about first lady Melania Trump.”

The joke described Melania Trump as having “a glow like an expectant widow,” which NPR and Variety both quoted as part of Kimmel’s mock speech for an alternative White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

CBS News reported that Kimmel’s routine aired two days before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and that the first lady later said ABC should “take a stand” against Kimmel.

In the aftermath, Trump and Melania Trump called for Kimmel’s firing, with CNBC reporting that Trump revived his push for ABC to take Kimmel off the air after Kimmel referred to Melania Trump as an “expectant widow.”

NBC News also described a gunman opening fire outside the correspondents’ association event in Washington, and it quoted Trump’s post saying, “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”

Disney responded to the FCC order by confirming it received the FCC’s directive and by repeating a defense grounded in compliance and First Amendment protections.

“The FCC is moving up the renewal timeline for some ABC stations”

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CNBC quoted Disney’s statement saying, “ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming.”

The company also said, “We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”

CNN likewise quoted Disney’s statement that “Our focus remains, as always, on serving viewers in the local communities where our stations operate.”

On the FCC side, Commissioner Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic appointee on the three-person panel, criticized the move as unconstitutional and politically motivated, saying, “This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. It is a political stunt and it won’t stick. Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.”

NBC News also reported that an FCC spokesperson told it that “the early renewal order is based on a long running FCC investigation into Disney’s DEI conduct, not any speech.”

Jimmy Kimmel defended his “expectant widow” joke during his Monday night monologue, telling viewers, “Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you and as am I and as are all of us, because under the First Amendment we have as Americans the right to free speech.”

CNN quoted Kimmel’s explanation that the comment was a joke about age difference, and it also described how communications director Steven Cheung assailed Kimmel for not apologizing and insisted ABC “needs to fire him immediately.”

While the core facts of the FCC’s directive were consistent across outlets—an early renewal order for Disney’s eight ABC-owned stations by May 28, 2026—coverage diverged in emphasis, especially around whether the move is retaliation for Kimmel.

CNN described the FCC action as “an extraordinary escalation by the Trump administration,” and it quoted public interest lawyer Andrew Jay Schwartzman saying, “This weapon certainly hasn’t been deployed against a major broadcaster in many decades.”

CBS News

CNBC framed the FCC’s move as an early review “following concerns around the company's diversity, equity and inclusion efforts,” and it described the FCC’s letter as ordering Disney to file for early renewal while noting the action relates to an investigation that began last year.

NBC News similarly said the move was tied to a yearlong investigation into Disney’s DEI practices, but it added that it “got fast-tracked after” Kimmel’s joke, and it quoted Gomez calling the action “unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere.”

NPR foregrounded the political backlash, stating the FCC ordered Disney’s ABC to seek early renewals “following criticism from first lady Melania Trump who objected to a joke about her made by late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel,” and it quoted Carr’s explanation of how the FCC can accelerate a license review.

Variety described the FCC order as unusual and tied it to the “MAGA uproar” over Kimmel’s “expectant widow” joke, while also noting that the FCC cited “the FCC’s ‘prohibition on unlawful discrimination.’”

CBS News placed the FCC order in the context of Trump calling for Kimmel’s firing and quoted the FCC’s investigation into unlawful discrimination, while also quoting Kimmel’s defense that “Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say” under the First Amendment.

LiveNOW from FOX emphasized the FCC’s filing language, quoting FCC Chief of the video division David Brown that “The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal” is essential within the meaning of agency regulations.

The FCC order sets up a legal process that multiple outlets described as lengthy, with broadcasters continuing to operate while hearings and appeals play out.

CNN said the order “will not affect the local stations right away,” describing it as “just the start of a protracted legal process,” and it quoted Schwartzman saying the “legal standard for denying a license renewal is almost insurmountable.”

CNBC

CNN also reported that both Bridge News and Disney would “go through a lengthy hearing process,” giving stations “multiple chances to respond,” and it said “a hearing and subsequent judicial review would take years, during which time the broadcaster can continue to operate as normal.”

Variety and NPR both described the early renewal as unusual, with Variety noting that the licenses were not due until 2028 at the earliest and some not due until 2031, while NPR said the licenses were “not scheduled for renewal until 2028 at the earliest.”

The FCC’s order also explicitly listed the eight stations and directed Disney to file within 30 days, and LiveNOW from FOX and Variety both quoted the FCC’s instruction that Disney’s ABC is “hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days — in other words, by May 28, 2026.”

The dispute has already drawn political and legal pushback from Democrats and First Amendment advocates, with NPR quoting Sen. Elizabeth Warren saying, “The FCC has just pulled out a sword to hang over every single news organization in America,” and it quoted Anna Gomez calling it “the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date.”

Jameel Jaffer warned in an email to CBS News that “President Trump is trying to consolidate control over what Americans see and hear,” and he said the outcome would be “more corrosive to democracy or more offensive to the First Amendment.”

The FCC’s own spokesperson response, as reported by NBC News, attempted to separate the action from speech by saying the order is based on DEI conduct “not any speech,” while CNBC reported that FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez called the move “unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere.”