FCC orders review of ABC's broadcast licenses

• While the FCC does have jurisdiction to review local broadcast licenses, the agency has never declared a review this sweeping, and especially not in relation to a network's DEI practices.

State of play: The review comes shortly after President Trump and first lady Melania Trump condemned ABC for a joke made by its late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

• Kimmel made a joke last week comparing the first lady to an "expectant widow," days before a shooter was apprehended while trying to open fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
• President Trump and the first lady called for Kimmel to be fired for the remark.
• Kimmel on Monday said the joke referred to the age gap between the president and the first lady.

How it works: ABC's programming is nationally syndicated across hundreds of local stations, but ABC itself only owns a handful of those stations.

• Networks like ABC need to apply for license renewals every eight years. National networks don't hold FCC licenses, which is why the agency can only go after local station licenses.
• In this case, ABC's station licenses were originally scheduled to be renewed between 2028 and 2031.
• The FCC says it's calling in Disney's ABC licenses for early renewal because it's investigating ABC for violating a vague FCC rule called the "public interest standard."

Reality check: The FCC would likely face ample legal pushback if it tried to actually revoke ABC's licenses, but triggering an investigation represents a distraction for ABC.

• Press freedom experts argue these types of probes are intended to silence networks that air content that the president may find disagreeable.

The big picture: The move is the latest escalation in an ongoing battle between the FCC and ABC. Kimmel has often found himself caught in the middle.

• FCC chair Brendan Carr last year asked the agency's enforcement bureau to open an investigation into Disney and ABC over whether their DEI practices violated the agency's rules. He opened similar probes into Comcast/NBC and Paramount/CBS.
• Last year, local broadcast behemoths Nexstar and Sinclair — who need FCC approval for deals — dropped Kimmel's show following pressure from Carr, who slammed Kimmel for comments he made after Charlie Kirk's killing. Disney pulled Kimmel from the air for a few days amid the controversy.
• Disney eventually put Kimmel back on the air and both networks brought back Kimmel's program after missing out on the ratings boost from its return.

• The president has since urged local syndicates to drop ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" when Kimmel made comments he didn't like.

What they're saying: "ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming," a Disney spokesperson said.

• "We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels. Our focus remains, as always, on serving viewers in the local communities where our stations operate."

Our thought bubble: ABC pulled Kimmel from the air for a few days following pressure from local syndicates, but it's unlikely it would do the same this time around.

• ABC has more leverage now than it did then, in part because the FCC has already blessed Nexstar's local merger with Tegna.
• Nexstar's merger is being challenged by Democratic state attorneys general, who argue the deal would be anticompetitive. A judge has issued an injunction temporarily pausing the merger.
• Blocking a popular program while trying to convince a judge that the merger wouldn't give one voice too much power is a losing argument.