On Tuesday in Washington, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan heard Disney's request to pause the FCC's so-called early renewal process while its case proceeds. Disney and ABC sued in August, arguing that under Chairman Brendan Carr the FCC moved unusually early this year to start license renewal reviews for eight ABC-owned stations, well before their expirations. Titled American Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission, the lawsuit is docketed as 26-cv-2902.
Beth Wilkinson, speaking for Disney, urged the court to stop the review, saying it is meant to deter ABC's speech after President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the network's coverage and programming, including late night host Jimmy Kimmel. "Sit with our head on the guillotine and wonder if anything we say is going to make that come down," she said of the ongoing review.
The FCC's lawyer, Dimitar Georgiev-Remmel, rejected that framing and noted ABC's licenses remain valid throughout the review and any later court fights. The commission said the early renewal proceedings are a legitimate way to examine whether Walt Disney engaged in discriminatory employment practices and fall under the agency's authority to judge if licenses serve the public interest. The FCC has also asked the judge to throw out the suit.
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Before the reviews began, Trump and members of his White House repeatedly criticized ABC, specifically naming Kimmel and the daytime program The View as examples of what they alleged was political bias. In April, the FCC issued an order to start the licensing reviews, the day after Trump wrote online that Kimmel "should be immediately fired," a post made in response to a joke involving the president and First Lady Melania Trump.
The judge pressed Disney on its claims of a chilling effect. In discussing criticism of The View over hosting Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, Judge AliKhan said she had never watched the show and asked for more detail on how common political guest bookings are to gauge the claimed impact.
According to ABC, remarks from Trump and Carr, together with the timing, make it "abundantly clear" that the licensing reviews constitute an unconstitutional attempt to suppress criticism and other expression the president and his administration disfavor. The company contends the possibility of losing its licenses shadowed each decision it took, and it is seeking to run the stations without that overhang until the case is resolved. The FCC counters that Disney has not provided needed information for a discrimination probe, and the reviews will help gather it. Judge AliKhan is weighing whether to grant Disney's pause request and whether to dismiss the case altogether.
For viewers and anyone who cares about media independence, the immediate question is whether ABC runs these stations with a regulatory axe in the background or gets breathing room while the courts sort out the fight. The ruling will set the tone for how much room broadcasters feel they have to make calls without second guessing what regulators might do next.
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