ABC argues that early license review by FCC is ‘retaliation’ for network’s coverage

ABC lawyers say the FCC’s actions are retaliation for the exercise of the network’s first amendment rights. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/ReutersView image in fullscreenABC lawyers say the FCC’s actions are retaliation for the exercise of the network’s first amendment rights. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/ReutersABC ABC argues that early license review by FCC is ‘retaliation’ for network’s coverageIn filing, network’s lawyers urged FCC to reject petitions to deny license renewals for eight ABC-owned local stations

ABC has pushed back aggressively against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for putting the network under an expedited license renewal process for eight local television stations it owns, charging in a lengthy filing that the process is payback for the network’s editorial decision-making and coverage of Donald Trump.

“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,” lawyers representing the Disney-owned network wrote in a 109-page filing, submitted as a reply to petitions from conservative media groups to deny ABC’s licenses. “The tools vary; the objective does not: a media industry too fearful of official reprisal to report the news freely.”

The FCC chair, Brendan Carr, has denied that inquiries into the network relate to its editorial decision-making and instead said they stem from concerns about the company’s employment practices and compliance with statutory obligations.

ABC’s lawyers pointed out how unusual it is for the FCC to demand that a group of network-owned stations apply several years early to renew their licenses. Other ABC-owned stations have licenses that run all the way until 2031.

“The commission’s departure from those norms lays bare what is really going on: the administration is retaliating against ABC for the exercise of its First Amendment rights,” ABC’s lawyers wrote. “Because this whole proceeding rests on an unconstitutional premise, the stations should never have been asked to justify license renewal years early.”

Responding to petitions to deny ABC’s licenses based on accusations of liberal bias, the network’s lawyers pointed out that the “commission has no authority to regulate the content of television programming”.

“No Petitioner has established any ‘violations’ of Commission rules or regulations, let alone the ‘serious’ ones or the ‘pattern of abuse’ required to warrant denying renewal,” they added.

ABC’s lawyers also argued that its eight stations had made “essential contributions to their local communities” in markets such as New York City and Philadelphia and argued that the FCC should dismiss the petitions to deny their licenses.

Participants have until 5 August to reply to petitions to deny. After that time, the FCC could choose to either grant the license renewal requests – an unlikely prospect – or schedule hearings on the matter, beginning a potentially onerous and time-consuming process that could run for several years, particularly if an adverse ruling is challenged in the courts.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan coalition of former FCC commissioners and staffers submitted a filing urging the commission to reject the petitions to deny ABC’s license renewals, arguing that the early renewal process ordered by Carr’s FCC in April is “a grave violation of both the Communications Act and the Constitution”.

Thousands of commenters have filed on behalf of ABC in both the license renewal inquiry and another FCC investigation into the daytime talkshow The View for a potential violation of rules guarding political candidate appearances.