The Disney-owned ABC network filed early license renewal applications for its eight television stations on Thursday, fulfilling a demand set by the Federal Communications Commission.But in doing so, the media company objected to the agency’s “unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional” April 28 order that started the early renewal process years before the scheduled license expiration date. The FCC gave ABC 30 days to comply with its demand.“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,” ABC’s flagship station in New York wrote in the filing. “The Order has no legitimate purpose.”
ABC called on the FCC to rescind the order as it’s “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,” the company said. “This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail.”
The commission’s early license renewal order stemmed from its scrutiny of the broadcaster’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, though the move came shortly after President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump demanded Disney and ABC fire late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel.
