---
title: "Disney says the FCC pulled ABC's license renewals forward by years to pressure it and dodge the courts"
description: "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."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Policy"
published: 2026-10-16T01:31:40.817Z
modified: 2026-10-16T01:31:40.817Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/disney-says-the-fcc-pulled-abc-s-license-renewals-forward-by-years-to-pressure-it-and-dodge-the-courts
language: en
keywords: "Disney, FCC, ABC, Media, First Amendment, Regulation"
---

# 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.

Jimmy Kimmel's interview with James Talarico, a Texas Democrat running for Senate, ran on [YouTube](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alphabet) this month instead of ABC. [Disney's](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/walt-disney) lead lawyer, Beth Wilkinson, [told a federal court on October 6](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abc-judge-block-fccs-early-license-review-retaliation-trump-carr/) 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. [1][2]

## Licenses called in years early

The FCC [ordered those renewals on April 28](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/trump-fcc-review-abc-broadcast-licenses-jimmy-kimmel-melania-joke-1236732208/), 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](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/28/disney-fcc-broadcast-licenses-renewal.html), 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. [3][4][5]

*Chart: **Eight ABC licenses sit inside a company booking about $25 billion a quarter** Columns showing Disney's quarterly revenue from the first quarter of 2024 through the second quarter of 2026, holding between about 22 and 26 billion dollars a quarter, with the June 2026 quarter at 25.2 billion dollars highlighted*

*Disney quarterly revenue in billions of US dollars, by calendar quarter, Q1 2024 through Q2 2026. The June 2026 quarter, cited in Disney's court filing, is highlighted. Source: Walt Disney Company quarterly figures from its SEC filings. [11]*

## 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. [3][7] 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](https://deadline.com/2026/10/abc-trump-fcc-lawsuit-1237155127/) 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. [1][6]

[Disney's October 12 reply](https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/disney-abc-fcc-license-retaliation-lawsuit) 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. [6][7]

## A second front, in Ohio dollars

Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio [asked the FCC on October 11 to investigate](https://www.cleveland.com/news/2026/10/bernie-moreno-seeks-federal-probe-into-abc-news-story-on-trump-sons-anduril-investment.html) 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](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anduril) 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. [8][9]

![Bernie Moreno speaking on stage in a navy suit and red tie](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/853d5f31c25f1767.jpg)

*Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, who asked the FCC on October 11 to investigate ABC News over its retracted report on the Trump family's Anduril investment, speaking at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, in July 2023. (Gage Skidmore)*

*Chart: **ABC printed a $2.5 billion stake; the real one was $50 million** Bars comparing 1789 Capital's actual stake in Anduril, about $50 million, against Anduril's roughly $1 billion Ohio plant and the $2.5 billion round figure ABC's original report attributed to 1789*

*Dollars, in billions, from ABC's corrected October 9 report and Senator Moreno's October 11 letter. Sources: Fox News, October 12, 2026; cleveland.com, October 12, 2026. [8][9]*

## 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." [2][7] ABC also handed critics real material, deleting the story without explanation before its correction conceded errors in investments, contracts and chronology. [8][9] 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](https://investors.thewaltdisneycompany.com/overview/default.aspx), 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.

## Takeaway

The FCC ordered ABC to renew licenses that were not due until 2028 to 2031, and Disney's October 12 filing calls the early call-up a tool to chill the network's speech while evading judges. Judge AliKhan's ruling lands before the November 17 earnings call.

## Sources

1. [CBS News, "ABC asks federal judge to block FCC's early license review, citing retaliation by Trump administration," October 6, 2026](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abc-judge-block-fccs-early-license-review-retaliation-trump-carr/)
2. [CNN, "ABC to federal judge: Trump's FCC is holding our head on a 'guillotine'," October 6, 2026](https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/06/media/abc-fcc-disney-trump-first-amendment-lawsuit)
3. [Variety, "Trump's FCC Orders ABC to File Broadcast TV License Renewals Within 30 Days in Wake of Jimmy Kimmel's Melania Joke," April 28, 2026](https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/trump-fcc-review-abc-broadcast-licenses-jimmy-kimmel-melania-joke-1236732208/)
4. [CNBC, "Disney's ABC files early broadcast licenses renewal. FCC Chair vows to 'follow the facts'," May 28, 2026](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/28/disney-fcc-broadcast-licenses-renewal.html)
5. [Walt Disney Company, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved October 15, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001744489)
6. [Deadline, "ABC Tells Judge That FCC Showed 'Retaliatory Motive' By Ordering Early License Review Despite 'Less Intrusive' Options," October 12, 2026](https://deadline.com/2026/10/abc-trump-fcc-lawsuit-1237155127/)
7. [Law Commentary, "Disney Accuses Trump FCC of Targeting ABC's Speech While Evading Court Review," October 14, 2026](https://www.lawcommentary.com/articles/disney-abc-fcc-license-retaliation-lawsuit)
8. [Fox News, "GOP senator calls for FCC probe of ABC News over Trump sons-Anduril 'political hit job'," October 12, 2026](https://www.foxnews.com/media/gop-senator-calls-fcc-probe-abc-news-trump-sons-anduril-political-hit-job)
9. [cleveland.com, "Bernie Moreno seeks federal probe into ABC News story on Trump sons' Anduril investment," October 12, 2026](https://www.cleveland.com/news/2026/10/bernie-moreno-seeks-federal-probe-into-abc-news-story-on-trump-sons-anduril-investment.html)
10. [The Walt Disney Company, Investor Relations events page, accessed October 15, 2026](https://investors.thewaltdisneycompany.com/overview/default.aspx)
11. [Walt Disney Company (The), quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001744489)


---

Disney says the FCC pulled ABC's license renewals forward by years to pressure it and dodge the courts — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/disney-says-the-fcc-pulled-abc-s-license-renewals-forward-by-years-to-pressure-it-and-dodge-the-courts