FCC Orders Two Television Groups to File Early License Renewal Applications During Ongoing Investigations

On April 28, 2026, the FCC’s Media Bureau Video Division Chief issued an Order requiring Disney’s ABC to file early renewal applications for its eight owned television stations as part of an ongoing investigation.

The Order cites to the ongoing investigation launched last year into the stations’ DEI practices and for non-compliance with the Communications Act. It also cites Section 73.3539 (c) of the rules which expressly allows the FCC to direct a licensee to file a renewal application by a date certain if the FCC deems it essential to the conduct of an investigation. The Order makes clear that the Bureau considers the renewal applications essential and gives ABC until May 28^th to file the applications.  The same cited rule indicates that if a licensee fails to file the renewal applications within the prescribed time, the investigation proceeds as if a renewal application had been filed.

One day prior to the Disney/ABC Order, the Media Bureau Video Division Chief issued a similar order to Bridge News, LLC, licensee of several Class A and LPTV stations, ordering it to also file early renewal applications no later than May 27^th as part of an ongoing investigation into apparent numerous unauthorized transfers of control.

While ordering stations to file early renewal applications is unusual, it is not unprecedented.  The FCC uses license renewal in numerous ways to enforce its rules or bring stations into compliance. A much more common tool is to address rule violations in connection with license renewal through consent decrees and, in egregious cases, short-term license renewals of one to three years.

While some have linked the Disney/ABC Order to the Trump administration’s criticism of Jimmy Kimmel, the issuance of a similar order against Bridge News one day earlier – and ongoing FCC investigations of both – suggest a timing tied to the investigations.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez issued a statement calling the Disney/ABC Order an “assault on the First Amendment” that she believes will fail. Her statement did not address the similar Bridge News, LLC order.