Groups file formal petition to deny over FCC's probes into Disney, ABC

Two public interest advocacy groups have filed a formal petition to deny in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ongoing proceeding involving ABC’s eight local television broadcast licenses, seeking to become formal parties in the matter with the hopes of ending in the investigation without an unfavorable decision against ABC.

The filing made by the Media Action Center and Frequency Forward takes an unusual position: Rather than opposing the renewals themselves, the groups ask the FCC to grant Disney’s applications immediately while warning they will seek revocation of the licenses if Disney agrees to any restrictions on its editorial independence or speech in exchange for regulatory approval.

The petition argues the FCC should terminate what the organizations describe as unconstitutional probes into Disney and ABC and stop using the broadcast licensing process to influence protected speech. At the same time, it contends any agreement by Disney to alter its news coverage or editorial practices as part of negotiations with the commission would undermine viewers’ First Amendment rights.

“Time and time again, We the People have witnessed the FCC pretend to protect our public interest in broadcasting, but then go behind closed doors to make secret deals which harm us instead,” Sue Wilson, the Director of the Media Action Center, said in a statement Friday morning.

The FCC is currently inviting the public to comment on the matter through its open docket. But by filing a formal petition to deny, the organizations are hoping to become parties to the proceeding, giving them procedural rights that include access to filings, the ability to participate more directly in the case and standing to appeal future FCC decisions in federal court.

Art Belendiuk, an attorney representing the petitioners, said the strategy is intended to ensure the public has a formal role in the proceeding.

“Comments can inform the FCC, but they do not compel the agency to act, nor do they guarantee the public a seat at the table,” Belendiuk said on Friday. “This unprecedented strategy is necessary because the FCC has taken the unprecedented step of threatening the integrity of the news by seeking to replace ABC’s journalistic judgment with an administration-friendly point of view.”

The petition includes declarations from viewers in each of the affected television markets to establish standing before the commission. The stations covered by the filing include ABC-owned outlets in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno.

The organizations also said they intend to make public any communications between the parties that occur outside the FCC’s official docket, arguing the move will discourage private negotiations over the license renewals.

The filing comes as the FCC continues separate investigations involving Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” while the agency conducts an early review of the licenses held by the company’s eight owned-and-operated television stations.

In April, the FCC ordered Disney to renew the broadcast licenses of its eight TV stations early after determining the company’s responses to its months-long probe into its purported use of DEI programs in hiring and promotional practices to be unsatisfactory.