‘Corporate death penalty’: ABC News urges judge to block FCC censorship campaign

ABC News asked U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan to block an FCC license review it calls a pretext for punishing the network's coverage of President Trump, comparing the process to a guillotine hanging over the company. The review, the first of its kind in nearly 60 years, covers ABC and eight regional affiliates whose licenses don't expire until 2028 to 2031, with only 30 days given to file renewal applications that normally take months.

The Justice Department argued ABC must seek relief at the D.C. Circuit instead, and said the review stems from a March 2025 antidiscrimination probe into Disney's hiring practices, not retaliation. AliKhan pressed the government's attorney on how that explanation squares with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's public comments criticizing ABC's Iran war coverage, and with Trump's own remarks about outlets that declined to air a July address containing election fraud claims.

The review followed ABC's five-day suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Carr warned the network could face the review ‘the easy way or the hard way.’ AliKhan did not rule immediately, asking for supplemental briefing due Oct. 14, with a decision expected in the following weeks.

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