ABC and Disney ask federal judge to block FCC's early review of ABC station licences

Left · 1ABC and its parent company Disney asked U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington on Tuesday 6 October to block an early review by FCC Chair Brendan Carr of the licences for all eight ABC-owned stations. 1 Centre · 1ABC sued the FCC in August after the agency's order requiring its eight broadcast stations to submit to an early renewal proceeding; Deadline calls the action highly unusual and the suit the first major media challenge to the FCC's regulatory threats since Trump returned to office. 2 Left · 2Carr ordered the review in April, a day after President Trump urged ABC to fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel; Trump has repeatedly called for Kimmel's firing for mocking him and has denounced ABC's The View as unfair. 1 3

Left · 1ABC's lawsuit says the administration is targeting the network because it "disapproves of what ABC broadcasts"; ABC attorney Beth Wilkinson told the judge the conduct is unconstitutional. 1 Centre · 1In a two-hour hearing, Wilkinson said "We are watching everything we do," pointed to Trump's call for ABC to lose its licences over the July speech, and likened the threat to a "death penalty" for stations and to a guillotine. 2 Left · 1The government's lawyer said the review grew out of an anti-discrimination investigation into ABC's diversity and hiring practices, and was about ABC's failure to fully answer the FCC's hiring inquiries rather than about the licences themselves. 1

Left · 1ABC's lawyers countered that the FCC cannot legally renew a licence more than 30 days before it expires and that some licences are not up for renewal for years, so early renewal is a tool about licences; they also noted that Carr said ABC's July decision not to air a prime-time Trump speech live would be part of the review. 1 Left · 1The government also argued that the court lacks jurisdiction, saying the case belongs in a federal appeals court, and that ABC has suffered no lasting harm because its licences remain active; ABC replied that it is challenging a pressure campaign, not a final ruling, and that it is chilled, with Wilkinson saying it is making different editorial decisions. 1 Centre · 1Assistant U.S. Attorney Dimitar P. Georgiev, for the FCC, said ABC is a regulated entity under regulatory inquiry and could have appealed the media bureau's order to the full commission; Wilkinson replied that the commission could still reject the appeal, letting Carr delay proceedings for years. 2

Left · 1ABC says The View has not invited a political candidate on air since February because of the FCC's pressure. 1 Centre · 1The View's decision to forgo clips of political candidates in its Hot Topics segment follows an FCC investigation launched in February after Texas Senate candidate James Talarico appeared; the equal time rule requires comparable time for rivals, and ABC contends The View falls under a news-programming exemption. 2 Left · 1The judge pressed both sides: she asked whether the government's position undercut its hiring-only explanation and whether the FCC's aim might be to force cooperation rather than punish speech, and she called the argument that ABC can absorb the costs "curious"; the government's lawyer conceded ABC's broadcasts are protected speech. 1

Mixed · 2Judge AliKhan made no ruling on Tuesday and asked the parties for additional submissions with deadlines through 14 October; the FCC has promised the court 48 hours' notice before sending ABC's licences to a formal hearing. 2 1