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

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Disney’s eight owned ABC stations to file for early renewal of their broadcast licenses, setting a deadline of May 28, 2026, after the agency opened an investigation into Disney’s policies on diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI).

“Disney will have the law on its side in its fight against the unusual broadcast license review ordered yesterday by the Federal Communications Commission, legal experts say”

Ars Technica

Ars Technica described the FCC’s action as an “unusual broadcast license review” and said legal experts believe Disney “will have the law on its side” in any fight over the license threat.

Ars Technica

The Verge reported that the FCC “has ordered the ABC stations owned and operated by Disney to file for an early license renewal,” and said the agency framed the decision as part of an investigation into Disney’s DEI policies.

Variety likewise said the FCC ordered Disney’s eight owned ABC stations to apply for early renewal “by May 28,” citing a probe into Disney and ABC over potential violations of the FCC’s “prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”

The FCC’s order, as quoted by Variety, stated that “whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal.”

Variety further quoted the FCC’s conclusion that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal “at this time” under the Communications Act’s public interest standard “is essential within the meaning of agency regulations.”

The Verge added that Disney “wasn’t set to renew its broadcast licenses until 2028,” while also noting that Disney controls ABC stations in eight major markets including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia.

Multiple outlets tied the FCC’s early-renewal order to both a DEI investigation and a politically charged sequence involving Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes about Melania Trump.

Ars Technica said the FCC’s order came “one day after President Trump and the first lady called on ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel over a recent joke saying that Melania Trump looked like an “expectant widow.”

Awful Announcing

The Verge similarly said the move came “just one day after President Donald Trump demanded ABC fire late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel,” who called Melania Trump an “expectant widow” in a skit.

Variety described the FCC’s action as arriving “amid a MAGA uproar” over Kimmel’s joke, and it placed the timing alongside “just days before a gunman crashed into the White House Correspondents’ Dinner with the apparent intent of trying to assassinate President Trump.”

The Verge also said the FCC “claims it made the decision as part of an investigation into Disney’s policies on diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI),” and it described the FCC’s demand that Disney’s ABC stations renew their licenses early after Kimmel’s remark.

Variety quoted the FCC’s Media Bureau saying it had been investigating “The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, ‘Disney’s ABC’) for compliance with its obligations as a licensed broadcaster,” including “possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”

Variety further quoted the FCC’s rationale that ABC “has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry (LOIs)” but that “additional actions are appropriate at this time,” including calling in the licenses for early renewal.

Ars Technica added a legal backdrop, noting that “In 1996, Congress made it a lot harder for the FCC to take away a broadcast license, even when it’s up for renewal,” and it quoted Andrew Jay Schwartzman saying that “denying renewal to a broadcaster faces an almost insurmountable burden.”

Disney responded to the FCC’s filing with a statement insisting it has complied with FCC rules and is prepared to defend the licenses through legal channels.

“The Federal Communications Commission has ordered the ABC stations owned and operated by Disney to file for an early license renewal, as reported earlier by The New York Times”

The Verge

Variety quoted Disney’s spokesperson saying: “We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations,” and it added that “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 statement continued that Disney is “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.”

Variety also quoted the FCC’s Media Bureau order, saying “The FCC has been investigating The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, ‘Disney’s ABC’)” and that it was investigating “possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”

The Verge reported that Disney “didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment,” while also quoting the FCC filing’s language about the “public interest standard.”

Awful Announcing reported that the FCC’s action was “unprecedented” and said it was “calling in Disney’s broadcast licenses for early renewal, citing the public interest standard and ‘the agency’s prohibition of unlawful discrimination.'”

Awful Announcing also quoted a “FLASH” post attributed to Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter, saying “The FCC is officially calling in Disney’s broadcast licenses for early renewal, citing the public interest standard and “the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.””

In Ars Technica, legal experts framed the dispute as one where the Telecommunications Act of 1996 makes license denial harder, with Andrew Jay Schwartzman saying “denying renewal to a broadcaster faces an almost insurmountable burden.”

FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s broader posture toward broadcasters and the First Amendment drew sharp criticism from multiple voices as the early-renewal order landed.

The Verge said that “Since Trump came into office in 2025, FCC Chair Brendan Carr has used his position to target broadcasters airing content that doesn’t align with the current administration,” and it cited Carr’s prior threats to pull licenses after Jimmy Kimmel Live! comments about Charlie Kirk.

Variety

The Verge quoted Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democrat commissioner, calling the action “the agency’s ‘most egregious attack on the First Amendment’ so far,” and it included Gomez’s statement: “This is an unprecedented and politically motivated attempt to interfere with how broadcasters operate, and this unlawful overreach will fail,” and “This should be a lesson to media companies that no amount of capitulation to this Administration will buy them protection.”

Variety also quoted Gomez saying, “The effort to challenge the licenses of ABC/Disney-owned stations is the FCC’s most egregious attack on the First Amendment to date. But it will fail. This should be a lesson to media companies that no amount of capitulation to this Administration will buy them protection.”

Variety quoted Bob Corn-Revere of FIRE saying: “Brendan Carr’s FCC subjecting Disney-owned-and-operated television stations to an early license renewal proceeding because of jokes in a late-night monologue is viewpoint retaliation,” and it added: “The FCC may claim these actions are based on DEI policies and have nothing to do with Jimmy Kimmel, but its timing makes it clear these justifications are a fig leaf.”

Ars Technica’s legal discussion framed the dispute in statutory terms, quoting James Speta that “the Act also generally requires that, before a license can be revoked, the FCC establish, on the basis of evidence, that the licensee has engaged in ‘willful or repeated’ violations of the Act, FCC rules, or its license.”

The Verge also described Carr’s attempt to clarify his statement, quoting Carr saying: “the only thing we’ve ever talked about pulling broadcast licenses are for operators that aren’t operating in the public interest, that are doing broadcast hoax, news distortion.”

The FCC’s order targets Disney’s eight owned-and-operated ABC affiliates, and the outlets’ reporting shows how the dispute could ripple across major media markets while setting up years of legal wrangling.

“Disney will have the law on its side in its fight against the unusual broadcast license review ordered yesterday by the Federal Communications Commission, legal experts say”

Ars Technica

Variety listed the stations as “WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KTRK-TV Houston, KGO-TV San Francisco, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and KFSN-TV Fresno, Calif.”

Ars Technica

Awful Announcing said the process would subject Disney to “lengthy hearings” in which the company would be forced to defend and justify the broadcast licenses for its eight owned-and-operated ABC affiliates across the country, and it specified that these stations would include “ABC affiliates in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno.”

The Verge said that if the FCC blocks ABC’s broadcast license renewal, Disney would be able to challenge the decision in court while its TV stations continue broadcasting, citing the New York Times.

Variety said the move “sets the stage for potentially years of legal wrangling between Disney and the FCC,” and it described the FCC’s demand as “unprecedented.”

Ars Technica provided the legal context for why Disney may be able to fight the FCC, noting that “In 1996, Congress made it a lot harder for the FCC to take away a broadcast license, even when it’s up for renewal,” and it quoted Schwartzman that denying renewal faces “almost insurmountable burden.”

Awful Announcing also argued that the FCC’s action could have a “chilling effect on all broadcasters,” saying that if the FCC begins targeting broadcast licenses, networks might place more live sports programming on cable channels or streaming services “that aren’t beholden to the government’s whims.”

It added that the FCC filed its first early-renewal order in decades on Monday, targeting “a small license holder called Bridge News,” and it said this showed the FCC’s move was not limited to major broadcasters.