Disney says the FCC pulled ABC's license renewals forward by years to pressure it and dodge the courts
Disney's October 12 filing argues the FCC chose early license review to coerce ABC and to dodge court scrutiny; a senator's probe request over ABC's retracted Anduril story opens a second front before Disney's November 17 earnings call.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
Jimmy Kimmel's interview with James Talarico, a Texas Democrat running for Senate, ran on YouTube+0.05% — YouTube, up 0.05 percent today this month instead of ABC. Disney's+1.75% — Disney's, up 1.75 percent today lead lawyer, Beth Wilkinson, told a federal court on October 6 why: The View has changed how it picks clips, and, in her words, "we are watching everything that we do." The watcher is the Federal Communications Commission, which holds the licenses that keep eight ABC stations on air. 12
Licenses called in years early
The FCC ordered those renewals on April 28, due by May 28, though the licenses were not scheduled for renewal until 2028 to 2031, and Disney says the agency had not forced an early renewal in more than five decades. It filed under protest, called the order "unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional," and sued in August. The exposure sits inside a company that booked $25.2 billion of revenue in the June quarter. 345
Eight ABC licenses sit inside a company booking about $25 billion a quarter
Data
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '24 | $22.08B |
| Q2 '24 | $23.16B |
| Q3 '24 | $22.57B |
| Q4 '24 | $24.69B |
| Q1 '25 | $23.62B |
| Q2 '25 | $23.65B |
| Q3 '25 | $22.46B |
| Q4 '25 | $25.98B |
| Q1 '26 | $25.17B |
| Q2 '26 | $25.25B |
The alternatives the government conceded
The FCC's stated ground is a probe into possible unlawful discrimination in Disney's hiring, promotion and pay, not its programming. 37 Asked at the October 6 hearing what other tools could compel documents, Justice Department lawyer Dimitar Georgiev-Remme had no immediate answer, and Judge Loren AliKhan ordered briefing. The government's October 9 filing conceded the alternatives, administrative subpoenas, fines and hearings, and called early renewal "the best tool for the task." Those alternatives would have required enforcement in federal court. 16
Disney's October 12 reply turns that concession into the charge: regulators "sought to inflict maximal coercive pressure on the media company whose speech the Administration sought to curb, while deliberately evading judicial review." Even a renewal granted years from now, Disney argues, leaves no remedy for editorial decisions already made under the file. 67
A second front, in Ohio dollars
Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio asked the FCC on October 11 to investigate ABC News over a retracted October 7 report on Trump family investments that tied 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, to a $2.5 billion Anduril$123.86B — Anduril, private, latest valuation $123.86B stake. The corrected story says about $50 million inside a larger funding round. Anduril's Arsenal-1 plant in Moreno's state is a nearly $1 billion bet on more than 4,000 jobs. 89
ABC printed a $2.5 billion stake; the real one was $50 million
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| 1789 Capital's actual stake | $50M |
| Anduril Arsenal-1 plant, Ohio | nearly $1B |
| Round ABC attributed to 1789 | $2.5B |
Jurisdiction, and a real error
The government's answer is jurisdiction: Congress routed final licensing decisions to the appeals courts, and ABC is, in its phrase, "a regulated entity that is undergoing a review by its regulator." 27 ABC also handed critics real material, deleting the story without explanation before its correction conceded errors in investments, contracts and chronology. 89 The FCC's own published standard bars censorship, requires proof of deliberate distortion, and does not plainly reach online articles. 9
One ruling prices it
AliKhan has not ruled; final materials from both sides were due October 14. 2 Disney traded at $110.68 on October 15 and holds its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings webcast on November 17, the first print with the injunction decided or still pending. 10 What her ruling prices is plain: whether a license file can chill first and answer to no judge.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
