FCC Orders Early Review Of License Renewals Of Disney Stations

UPDATE: The FCC on Tuesday ordered The Walt Disney Co. to submit to early renewals of its owned and operated stations.

In a filing, the FCC’s Media Bureau said, “The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard is essential within the meaning of agency regulations. Therefore, Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days–in other words, by May 28, 2026.”

The short notice indicated that the review is related to a prior investigation over the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices. But it also comes amid Donald Trump’s attacks on Jimmy Kimmel and his calls for him to be fired.

The licenses otherwise will come for renewal in 2028.

More to come.

PREVIOUSLY: The FCC reportedly is preparing to direct ABC-owned stations to file early renewals of their licenses, a move that quickly drew criticism from the commission’s sole Democrat.

The FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr already has been investigating Disney over its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. But the network has been under pressure from the Trump administration to fire Jimmy Kimmel, following a joke last week he made about First Lady Melania Trump being an “expectant widow.” That joke came days before the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, forcing Secret Service to rush Trump, the First Lady and Vice President JD Vance from the dais.

Katie Miller, wife of Trump deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, posted a clip of Carr on his podcast where he talked of seeking an early license renewal process for ABC.

In the clip, Carr talked not of Jimmy Kimmel but of Disney being “pretty bad” on DEI and that it would raise “character questions about the company long term.”

“You can accelerate when a license becomes due and say, ‘We have significant concerns about you conducting your operations. We want to review your license now.”

An FCC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Disney has not commented, but it likely will set up a legal battle, something that can stretch for years.

Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, said in a statement, “This is unprecedented, unlawful, and going nowhere. It is a political stunt and it won’t stick. Companies should challenge it head-on. The First Amendment is on their side.”

Station licenses do not come up for renewal until 2028. Disney has not yet commented.

Kimmel was doing an “alternative” Correspondents’ Dinner roast, and quipped, “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”

Kimmel did not apologize for his joke on Monday’s show.

Kimmel said, “This was Thursday. There was no big reaction to it, until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm and a call to fire me from our First Lady, Melania Trump, saying I should be fired because of a joke I made again five nights ago. It was a pretend roast,” he said. “It obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together. It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, but I understand that the First Lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said, “Jimmy Kimmel is a shit human being for: #1. Making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President #2. Doubling down on that joke instead of doing the decent thing by apologizing ABC needs to fire him immediately and he should be shunned for the rest of his life.”

Semafor and NBC News reported that the agency was preparing to seek the early renewals.

More to come.