ABC Opposes FCC’s Move to Dismiss First Amendment Lawsuit, Calls Early License Renewal ‘Broadcaster Death Penalty’

ABC filed an opposition to the Federal Communications Commission’s motion to dismiss the First Amendment lawsuit against them Thursday, calling the commission’s early license renewal a “broadcaster death penalty.” The FCC asked a federal judge to dismiss ABC’s First Amendment lawsuit challenging the agency’s early review of licenses for eight Disney-owned television stations Sept. 4. “Those public statements underscore that the purpose of the Commission’s call for early license renewal is not to investigate discrimination; it is to license viewpoints,” the filing stated in response to the motion to dismiss. The network said that the FCC’s motions “improperly conflate the nature of Plaintiffs’ retaliation claims,” while ABC and its affiliates suffer. This opposition comes on the Sept. 17 reply deadline, which is part of the briefing schedule laid out by the judge last month, ahead of a hearing ordered for the week of Oct. 5, according to the network. ABC also claimed that the FCC’s “plain purpose” of initiating the early license renewal process was to have leverage over them “by hanging the threat of the broadcaster death penalty of license non-renewal or revocation over Plaintiffs’ every editorial decision.” “Although the Chairman is free to express publicly that he dislikes Jimmy Kimmel or thinks that no one should watch ‘The View,’ he cannot threaten retaliatory enforcement against speech he dislikes. Such threats indisputably qualify as adverse action,” the filing read. Earlier Thursday a bipartisan group of 18 former FCC chairmen, Commissioners, and officials filed a brief in support of ABC’s motion, saying that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr violated the First Amendment “in plain view.” The brief also stateted that the Chairman used broad threats and ominous warnings to the entire media ecosystem, which “created a regulatory regime in which any broadcaster, including ABC, can be found guilty of transgressions at any time for seemingly any thing.” “The effect is an unconstitutional chilling of the broadcast press,” the brief read. “This case thus represents a critical opportunity for this Court to safeguard the constitutional rights to free speech and a free press that are foundational to our democracy.” ABC initially sued the FCC last month, accusing the agency of using its licensing authority to punish the network over programming that has drawn criticism from President Donald Trump and FCC chairman Brendan Carr. The FCC has since disputed that characterization in, maintaining that the early reviews stemmed from an ongoing investigation into allegations of unlawful discrimination in employment practices at Disney and ABC. The legal battle stems from the FCC’s April 28 order requiring Disney to submit early renewal applications for its eight ABC-owned stations, even though the licenses were not otherwise scheduled to come up for renewal until 2028 or later. The commission has said the accelerated reviews were necessary as part of its investigation into Disney’s employment practices. The administration has publicly criticized ABC programming, including “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The View,” and said in July that ABC’s decision to limit coverage of Trump’s primetime address on election security would factor into the license review.