“The following week, Chairman Carr commented at a public press conference that the President’s speech was ‘something that broadcasters should be carrying,’ and suggested that the network’s decision not to broadcast the President’s speech would be raised and considered by the Commission during these license renewal proceedings,” Disney said.
Carr has been cagey on the potential outcome of the license renewal proceeding. “We’re going to follow the facts and the law wherever it goes,” he has said.
Legal experts say it’s unlikely that the FCC could revoke ABC licenses. A 1996 change to US telecommunications law made it nearly impossible to deny a renewal. Ordering a station to file early renewal applications also doesn’t change the actual dates the current licenses expire. The eight ABC stations are scheduled for renewals between 2028 and 2031.
Even if ABC beats the attempts to take away its licenses, Carr may succeed in chilling the speech of broadcasters. “Faced with such danger, any broadcaster would question whether its speech is worth the cost,” Disney told the FCC yesterday. “Indeed, the public record is replete with examples of other broadcasters who, when faced with similar pressures, quickly folded to the administration’s demands.”
Disney’s filing pointed to Paramount winning a merger approval after it reached a $16 million settlement with Trump, canceled Stephen Colbert’s show, and “created an ombudsman to field complaints of ideological bias.” Disney further noted that various companies, including Paramount, dismantled diversity programs in exchange for FCC approval of mergers.
Disney said it has scaled back its own diversity programs during the Trump administration, but added that the FCC “has made no indication here that some form of resolution with Disney would be possible, further underscoring that its investigation is fueled by retaliation rather than policy objectives.”