The licenses for eight ABC-owned TV stations, including KABC in Los Angeles, were originally scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031. The suit said the current review is \u201cextraordinarily early\u201d and \u201cthat timing underscores the Commission\u2019s true purpose: coercing and retaliating against a network that refuses to bow to the Administration\u2019s demands.\u201d<\/p>\n
ABC\u2019s suit notes that the early license review was announced days after Kimmel satirized the White House Correspondents Assn. dinner in an April 23 skit. The comic said First Lady Melania Trump was \u201cglowing like an expectant widow.\u201d <\/p>\n
Two days later, a gunman attempted to enter the dinner at the Washington Hilton before he was stopped by Secret Service agents. Trump tied the incident to Kimmel\u2019s sketch and again called for his firing.<\/p>\n
Trump recently called for ABC\u2019s TV licenses to be revoked after the network did not carry his July 16 prime-time Oval Office address on election fraud. Carr said the network\u2019s decision would be taken under consideration in the license review process.<\/p>\n
Broadcast outlets have long had the option to determine whether to carry a presidential address. ABC presented Trump\u2019s speech on its news streaming platform, as did NBC.<\/p>\n
![\"FCC](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787080041_762_.jpeg\")
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FCC Chairman Brendan Carr speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March.<\/p>\n
(Bloomberg \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Carr has also questioned whether \u201cThe View\u201d should be classified as a news program, which is exempt from the equal-time rule for political candidates who appear as guests.<\/p>\n
ABC has asked the FCC to rule on the status of \u201cThe View,\u201d which received an exemption from the rarely enforced equal time provision in 2002.<\/p>\n
ABC has maintained that \u201cThe View\u201d books politicians based on newsworthiness and not partisanship. The program has not presented a candidate currently running for office since February, when Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico appeared.<\/p>\n
Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, expressed support for ABC\u2019s legal action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I\u2019m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up,\u201d Gomez said in a statement. \u201cThis should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n
ABC\u2019s aggressive defense comes after it settled a lawsuit filed<\/a> by the president over inaccurate statements ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos made about E. Jean Carroll\u2019s sexual assault civil suit that the president lost in court.<\/p>\n ABC agreed to pay Trump $15 million in December 2024 to end the legal fight \u2014 sparking an outcry among free speech advocates, who believed the network would have won the case.<\/p>\n