{"id":3874,"date":"2026-08-18T18:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3874"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:06:14","slug":"abc-sues-fcc-over-challenge-to-its-broadcast-licenses-saying-actions-present-existential-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3874","title":{"rendered":"ABC sues FCC over challenge to its broadcast licenses, saying actions present \u2018existential threat\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…<\/strong><\/div>\n
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By JOCELYN NOVECK and MIKE CATALINI, Associated Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

Further escalating its battle with the Trump administration, ABC on Tuesday took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission on First Amendment grounds, saying the agency\u2019s demand for early review of broadcast licenses posed an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to its operations.<\/p>\n

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In the lawsuit, ABC, its parent company Disney and the eight local stations whose licenses are affected asked a federal court to stop the early renewal proceedings.<\/p>\n

The FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr, an ally of President Donald Trump, had ordered the early review in April \u2014 itself a rare move \u2014 of eight licenses owned by ABC, well before they are set to expire. It cited the network\u2019s diversity practices as a reason, but the development came shortly after a joke by ABC\u2019s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel \u2014 an outspoken Trump critic \u2014 had infuriated the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain and again, the Administration has attacked ABC\u2019s speech \u2014 the stories its journalists report and the viewpoints its network programs air,\u201d the network alleged in its lawsuit. \u201cOver time, those attacks have escalated into express demands that ABC be stripped of its broadcast licenses because of its speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFacing this existential threat,\u201d it added, \u201cPlaintiffs have no choice but to seek redress from the judicial branch for the Administration\u2019s blatant retaliation for their First Amendment speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

It said ABC had \u201cno alternative means to eliminate these ongoing and immediate threats other than total capitulation to the Administration\u2019s demands.\u201d It asked the court to \u201cimmediately enjoin Defendants from taking or threatening to take any action against Plaintiffs in relation to the early license renewal applications.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are already clashes between ABC and the administration<\/h4>\n

The early license review is only one part of a long-simmering confrontation between ABC and the FCC.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The network has also been fighting Carr\u2019s efforts to make the morning talk show \u201cThe View,\u201d whose hosts and guests are often critical of Trump, subject to equal-time rules. That\u2019s a question ABC says the agency itself decided \u2014 in the network\u2019s favor \u2014 more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n

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The lawsuit Tuesday also spoke of ramifications that go well beyond one network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consequences of the Administration\u2019s campaign against free speech reach well beyond ABC,\u201d it said. \u201cIf the Administration gets its way, the message to every media company in the country will be unmistakable: tell only the stories the Administration deems favorable, or face the coercive machinery of the federal government. In such a world, the press could in no way be described as free.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added: \u201cThe FCC Chairman has left little doubt that this is his goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The lone Democrat on the FCC praises the lawsuit<\/h4>\n

The sole Democrat on the commission,\u00a0Anna Gomez, commended ABC and Disney for pushing back against the FCC\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor months, the FCC has waged a campaign of censorship and control against Disney\u2019s ABC stations,\u201d she said in a statement, \u201cusing the threat of broadcast license revocations to punish a company for speech this administration doesn\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have long called on companies to push back against this kind of government intimidation, and I\u2019m glad Disney has shown courage and stepped up,\u201d she said. \u201cThis should be a welcome sign for every broadcaster who has felt the weight of this overreaching government pressure in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In late July, Carr defended\u00a0his agency\u2019s actions against ABC,\u00a0saying broadcasters have a duty to \u201coperate in the public interest.\u201d The FCC, he said, was merely trying to restore that standard.<\/p>\n

Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, \u201cstruck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we\u2019re not there,\u201d Carr said. \u201cSo I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABC has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration\u2019s Federal Communications Commission, alleging violation of its First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nABC sues FCC over challenge to its broadcast licenses, saying actions present \u2018existential threat\u2019 - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3874\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ABC sues FCC over challenge to its broadcast licenses, saying actions present \u2018existential threat\u2019 - 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