FCC orders early review of Disney’s TV licenses after Trump comments

According to Reuters, the ​reviews were not supposed to begin until October 2028 but ​were prompted by ​a year-long probe into the ‌FCC's ⁠ban on unlawful discrimination. Now, Disney must file its ​applications ​by 28 May 2026.

The move comes just days after the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) Presenter Jimmy Kimmel joked about First Lady Melania Trump.

Kimmel jested that Melania Trump had “the glow of an expectant widow". Days later, a gunman opened fire at a gala dinner at the Washington Hilton. The US president and his wife were evacuated safely. However, Trump called his late-night sketch a "call to violence" and called for the late-night host to be fired.

On his Monday show, Kimmel explained the joke “obviously was a joke about their age difference… a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am.” He went on to say: “It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination… I've been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular."

In a statement, David J. Brown, Chief of the Video Division at the FCC’s Media Bureau, wrote: “The FCC has been investigating The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Disney’s ABC”) for compliance with its obligations as a licensed broadcaster. Specifically, the FCC has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination. While Disney’s ABC has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) as part of this investigation, the FCC has determined that additional actions are appropriate at this time.

“Specifically, FCC rules provide that whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal.1 Doing so both allows the FCC to conduct its ongoing investigation and enables the FCC to ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations more broadly.

“The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard2 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.”

A federal US judge has ruled that an executive order by President Trump to defund public broadcasters NPR and PBS violated the First Amendment and is "unlawful and unenforceable." Discover more here.