‘Open season’ on ABC as FCC moves up public comment process for renewals

The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, on 2 June 2025. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenThe Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, on 2 June 2025. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesMedia‘Open season’ on ABC as FCC moves up public comment process for renewalsOrder represents one of the most significant actions the Trump administration has taken against a media company

Over the next few weeks, anyone in the US can plead their case that Disney’s ABC should not be permitted to renew its broadcast licenses for the eight local television stations they own.

After the Federal Communications Commission’s stunning decision in late April to force ABC to apply early to renew its licenses – a move widely seen as retaliation against critics of Donald Trump – the nation’s top media regulator opened up the pleading cycle process to critics and supporters until 29 June.

The early renewal order represents one of the most significant actions the Trump administration has taken against a media company, a potential regulatory death-blow to go alongside the myriad legal actions taken against the press and access restrictions placed upon journalists.

The FCC’s order came one day after Trump and his wife, Melania, lobbied for ABC to cancel the late-night show starring Jimmy Kimmel, prompting some to claim it was politically motivated. But chair Brendan Carr has said that the decision was based solely on the early findings of an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.

ABC is extremely skeptical of the FCC’s stated rationale for the early renewal order, arguing in an 18-page memo in late May that the DEI investigation was simply a pretext for retaliating against a disfavored broadcaster and chilling its speech.

Either way, now that the FCC has begun the process of reviewing ABC’s licenses, critics of the network have a golden opportunity to land their blows.

Petitioners who want to deny the network’s license renewals are not limited to focusing on the company’s hiring practices – they can challenge any aspect of ABC’s fitness for broadcasting and contest whether the networks truly serve the public interest. ABC will then get a month to respond to the petitions to deny their renewals, and petitioners will get a few days to reply.

“Is this open season on ABC? Without a doubt,” said Gigi Sohn, who served as counselor to former FCC chair Tom Wheeler during Barack Obama’s administration.

Daniel Suhr, the president of the conservative legal group Center for American Rights, confirmed that his organization will file a petition to deny ABC’s license renewals on multiple grounds, including several issues the group has raised in the past. “It’s a license renewal, and so any issues dealing with the license are fair game, and we’ve had a number of pending complaints and concerns about ABC,” he said.

Over the past two years, the group has filed complaints about ABC’s moderation of a 2024 presidential election debate; about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, and its belief that Kimmel “utilizes his show – and therefore the public airwaves – to advance his own political interests”; and has supported an inquiry into the ABC talkshow The View.

While several petitions to deny are expected to come from established organizations like Suhr’s, the public can also write in with comments. “I am concerned this proceeding reflects a broader effort to discourage corporate diversity initiatives and may create pressure on broadcasters based on political disagreements rather than established communications-law standards,” wrote one dissenting individual on 5 June.