Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democrat, said the public will remember “who already complied and who fought back. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage rather than capitulation.”
The application for ABC was submitted by attorney Paul Clement, who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President George W. Bush; and Jennifer Tatel, who was an FCC counsel during the Obama administration and Trump’s first term. Tatel was promoted to acting general counsel in 2017 by then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who said she was “known for her legal acumen, FCC expertise and careful judgment.”
ABC’s filing says Scene It still meets all the qualifications for a bona fide news program and there are no grounds to overturn the 2002 order.
“Yet, in late March, the Media Bureau ordered KTRK Television [a Houston-based ABC station] To file another petition regarding declaratory judgment Scene“In parallel, on April 28, 2026, the Media Bureau issued an extraordinary order demanding the expedited filing of all license renewal applications of ABC, including KTRK-TV.”
Although the license review has been widely seen as retaliation against ABC for hiring Kimmel, the FCC says it is related to a year-long investigation into ABC potentially violating anti-discrimination rules with its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. ABC’s filing said the company provided more than 11,000 pages of documents and extensive answers to questions for the FCC investigation. The FCC criticized ABC’s response as inadequate, directing Disney to file expedited license renewal applications for all of its licensed TV stations by May 28.
“Viewpoint Discrimination and Retaliatory Targeting”
Citing comments that Carr made to Fox SceneABC said the FCC publicly announced its investigation into the program and Presag.[ed] A result.” Carr said in a TV appearance that “when you look at the lineup of guests that typically come SceneI think Disney has an uphill climb to prove that they are just a straight news program.
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