Walt Disney Co.’s ABC is strongly resisting FCC pressure to alter its programming, arguing that the agency’s actions represent an unconstitutional overreach that violates First Amendment protections.
The network escalated its pushback this week after the FCC took the unusual step last week of pulling the licenses of eight Disney-owned television stations for early review — a move widely seen as an attempt to pressure ABC’s content.
That action came one day after President Trump publicly demanded that ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke about First Lady Melania Trump.
The FCC has also targeted ABC’s daytime political talk show “The View,” questioning whether it can continue to receive an exemption from the “equal time rule,” which requires broadcasters to give opposing political candidates equal airtime.
In a formal filing, Disney’s Houston station KTRK-TV called the FCC’s actions “unprecedented” and “beyond the Commission’s authority.” The station argued that “The View” has long qualified as a “bona fide” news interview program and is therefore exempt from the equal time obligations, reports The L-A Times.
“The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly,” KTRK-TV said in the petition for a declaratory ruling.
The dispute sets up a direct confrontation between ABC and the Trump administration. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has openly criticized both Kimmel and “The View.” Earlier this year, Carr declared that long-standing exemptions for certain programs, including “The View,” are no longer valid.
An FCC spokesperson said the agency would review Disney’s claim that “The View” qualifies as a bona fide news program.
“Decades ago, Congress passed a law that generally prohibits broadcast television programs from putting a thumb on the scale in favor of one political candidate over another,” the spokesperson said. “The equal time law encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.”