Trump FCC warns all broadcasters to follow orders or be punished like ABC

ABC submitted individual license renewal applications for multiple ABC-owned stations in New York, Philadelphia, Durham, Chicago, San Francisco, Fresno, Houston, and Los Angeles. The filings stated the applications were submitted under protest in response to an April 28, 2026 order issued by the Media Bureau. ABC said the Commission had not demanded early renewal in more than five decades and had not previously required simultaneous renewal applications from commonly owned stations with a network. ABC argued the order had no legitimate purpose and was inconsistent with investigative authority. ABC also said the order could enable an assault on station licenses while the Commission sought a legal pretext, and it called for rescission. Separately, Carr stated the FCC had investigated Disney for over a year regarding alleged discrimination and said Disney filed renewals only after being told its responses were disingenuous, deficient, and improper.

"The station "submits this license renewal application under protest in response to an unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional Order issued on April 28, 2026, by the Media Bureau," ABC's filings said. "The Commission had not demanded early renewal in over five decades. And it has never before demanded simultaneous license renewal applications from a group of stations commonly owned with a network as it has here. The Order has no legitimate purpose.""

"ABC said it was filing the applications without waiving any rights and called on the FCC to rescind the order. "There is no information that the application will reveal that the Commission could not obtain through other means," ABC wrote. "The Order is inconsistent with a legitimate exercise of investigative authority and is plainly incompatible with the First Amendment.""

""Worse, the Order opens the door to an assault on the Station's license, while the Commission searches for a legal pretext to achieve its desired goal. This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail.""

"Carr wrote in an X post yesterday that the "FCC has been investigating Disney for over a year now after reports surfaced alleging that it had been discriminating against people based on race, gender, or other protected characteristics in violation of federal nondiscrimination laws," and that "Disney only filed these applications to renew their ABC broadcast licenses after the FCC informed the company that their responses to the agency's investigation had been disingenuous, deficient, and improper.""

Read at Ars Technica