A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The Federal Communications Commission has ordered Disney to seek early renewal of broadcast licenses for the ABC stations it owns. Disney owns eight stations that carry its ABC programming. The FCC says Disney is being investigated for potentially violating the agency's prohibition on unlawful discrimination as well as the Communications Act of 1934. The demand came after first lady Melania Trump and President Trump criticized ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a joke that he made days before a gunman was charged with trying to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Kimmel gave a mock speech for an alternate version of the dinner on his show where he said Melania Trump looked like an expectant widow. After the shooting, Kimmel said he was only talking about the couple's age difference.
Here to help us sort all of this out is someone who's covered the TV industry for decades - NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans. So, Eric, what exactly is the FCC demanding from Disney, and how does this process all work?
ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Well, you know, basically, companies that own TV stations operate with licenses granted by the federal government so they can use the public broadcast spectrum. Now, station owners generally have to reapply for these licenses every eight years, which requires filing a lot of paperwork, and the FCC has now required Disney to file early license renewal requests for stations that normally wouldn't have been reviewed for two years or even longer. Now, experts I've spoken to say it can take a year to prepare this kind of paperwork. The FCC is asking Disney to do it in 30 days. In a statement, Disney said it is, quote, "confident" that they will qualify for renewal.
MARTÍNEZ: How unusual is an order like this?
DEGGANS: It's rare, although the FCC does have the power to require an early review of a license in the public interest. Now, way back in the 1970s, the FCC asked for early review and eventually took licenses from a radio broadcaster in Mississippi following allegations that the broadcaster had misled the agency about plans to serve Black audiences. Now, in more recent years, the FCC has fined broadcasters, including 20 CBS-owned TV stations. They fined them $550,000 for Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction during the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, but that penalty got overturned years later by the courts.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, just last year, the FCC fought with Disney and ABC and Kimmel. What's different this time around?
DEGGANS: Well, some people may remember back in September, FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who was appointed to that position by President Trump, threatened to punish ABC affiliates after Jimmy Kimmel joked about pro-Trump Republicans capitalizing on the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Now, two major station ownership groups said they would pull the program, and Disney suspended Kimmel's show, but that move brought a lot of public backlash, and the suspension was lifted several days later.
This time, Disney appears to be standing by Kimmel, and affiliates have stayed silent. Meanwhile, we got these critics, including Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, who said this latest license review looks like political retaliation. Now, here's what Commissioner Gomez told NPR.
ANNA GOMEZ: This is the most egregious assault on the First Amendment this FCC has taken to date. It is unprecedented, unlawful, and it is going nowhere.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, Eric, you mentioned earlier how Disney thinks it's confident that they'll qualify for renewal, but how do you think all this is going to end?
DEGGANS: Well, Disney seems to have a strong case, and these actions can take a long time. The example I cited from the 1970s took eight years to resolve. So far, the FCC has opened investigations and initiated reviews but hasn't actually taken any punitive action, raising the question of whether these actions are about intimidating others into limiting Kimmel on Disney before the agency even has to do anything. So far, it seems like Disney isn't benching Kimmel and is standing up for itself.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans. Eric, good to hear your voice again.
DEGGANS: All right. Good to be here. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
