With the FCC using the broadcast licensing process to examine programming under the Communications Act’s “public interest” standard, Disney and ABC have filed a lawsuit against the FCC that could ultimately have implications for radio’s license holders.
Disney and ABC filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, asking for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the FCC’s early license renewal proceedings. ABC’s attorneys, Beth Wilkinson and Paul Clement, wrote in the complaint that “the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”
The suit covers all eight of ABC’s owned-and-operated stations. Their licenses were originally due for renewal between 2028 and 2031; the FCC ordered accelerated reviews of all eight in April, tied to an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
A spokesperson for the FCC said in response, “All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest, even Disney. The FCC has been examining claims that Disney engaged in illegal DEI discrimination for over a year… The FCC will continue to follow the facts and law wherever they lead.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the Commission’s lone Democrat, praised ABC’s decision to sue. In a statement, Gomez said, “For months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney’s ABC stations, using the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn’t like. I have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I’m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up. This should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.”
Gomez added, “I am hopeful that this will mark the beginning of the end of this administration’s disregard for the Constitution and the law, and that the coming months will bring the costly legal defeat this agency has been asking for since it started down this path. It is time this administration understands that the Constitution does not bend to political convenience, and that the First Amendment protects the news and commentary Americans see on their screens even when those in power wish it didn’t.”
With radio operating under the identical licensing framework, the same public interest renewal standard cited against ABC governs every AM and FM license in the country.
When the FCC first ordered ABC’s early renewal review in April, NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt said the move “creates significant uncertainty for all broadcasters,” warning that the Commission’s approach broke from its “traditional enforcement process.” Carr himself has made the connection explicit, noting the Commission has open investigations into several broadcasters, including NPR.
In another such case, Carr opened a formal Letter of Inquiry into Audacy San Francisco’s KCBS-AM in February 2025 after it broadcast the live locations of ICE agents during a newscast. Carr said at the time the FCC would “hold broadcasters accountable for complying with their public interest obligations,” and the agency’s letter asked the station to explain how its reporting was consistent with those obligations.
If a court upholds the FCC’s authority to tie license renewals to programming content, radio stations, particularly talk and news formats, could eventually face the same kind of scrutiny ABC and, briefly, KCBS have already faced. If ABC prevails instead, the ruling could limit how far the Commission can go in linking any station’s editorial decisions to its license, radio included
