ABC accused the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday of “attempted censorship” over the agency’s unprecedented demand for early license renewals for the network’s local TV stations.

“The retaliation against ABC is a signal to every media company in the country: Accommodate the Administration’s view of what news coverage should look like or pay the price,” the network said in a filing to the FCC.

The filing laid out ABC’s formal opposition to the agency’s unusually aggressive review of the broadcast licenses of Disney’s eight owned and operated local ABC news stations. President Donald Trump’s FCC chair, Brendan Carr, triggered the process, known as an early broadcast license renewal, in April shortly after Trump demanded the Disney-owned network fire Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night talk show host who has repeatedly drawn Trump’s ire over jokes on his show.

“For years, President Trump has expressly demanded that the Commission revoke ABC’s broadcast licenses for speech he dislikes,” ABC wrote in the filing, which came as the public comment period for the early review closed. “Since his appointment, Chairman Carr has subsequently opened all manner of investigations and issued a slew of burdensome investigatory requests.”

The television network argued that the early review, which required ABC to file license renewals for all of its licensed TV stations by May 28, is “as clearcut an example of retaliation as one could imagine,” adding that “the Stations should never have been asked to justify license renewal years early.” 

ABC pointed to more than 150,000 public comments, most of which supported the network’s position, that were posted on the FCC website in response to the review.

“When given the chance to weigh in on whether to allow the FCC to continue its campaign of censorship and control, the American public showed up in a big way, and the vast majority who spoke up delivered the same message,” Anna Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democratic commissioner, wrote in a news release after the comment period closed. “They believe in the value of their local news, they trust those who cover their communities, and they understand that the FCC has no business deciding who is a journalist and what counts as real news.” 

Trump’s and Carr’s public condemnation of Kimmel was also raised in the ABC filing, which quoted an ultimatum the FCC commissioner issued to the network following a monologue in which Kimmel spoke about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. 

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr said during a September 2025 interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. Shortly after, Disney announced that it would  “indefinitely” pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” but returned it to the airwaves less than a week later. 

“There is no question why the Commission is singling out these eight stations: Each is owned by ABC, and the Administration has openly and repeatedly called for the revocation of ABC’s licenses, because it dislikes the content and viewpoints expressed on ABC network programs,” the network wrote in its filing. 

The network made clear that it will challenge in court any FCC decision that results in the revocation of the broadcast licenses. Carr will be in charge of deciding whether to hold a hearing over ABC’s dispute or to refer it to the FCC’s administrative law judge. 

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