Disney doesn't own the broadcast spectrum that carries ABC. It borrowed it.
Every television station that airs ABC programming does so under a federal license — permission from the government to use public airwaves that belong to the American people. That permission comes with conditions: operate in the public interest, follow the law, and don't discriminate.
The FCC says Disney broke those conditions.
In March 2025, the FCC opened an investigation into whether Disney's DEI policies constituted unlawful discrimination — the kind that federal nondiscrimination rules specifically prohibit. The question wasn't whether Disney was "woke." The question was whether Disney used race and sex to make hiring, promotion, and compensation decisions in ways that violated federal law.
Disney was asked to answer for it. The FCC described those answers as "disingenuous, deficient, and improper."
So Disney sued.
The lawsuit, filed August 18, targets the FCC's decision to pull forward the license renewals for eight ABC-owned stations — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, and Fresno. Those licenses weren't due for renewal until 2028–2031. The FCC ordered early review in April 2026. Disney filed suit three months later.
Disney's legal argument is that the entire investigation is a "retaliatory campaign" against ABC for its editorial decisions — a First Amendment claim designed to reframe a discrimination investigation as government censorship.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wasn't moved. "Disney seems a little jumpy right now," he said.
An FCC spokesperson was more direct: "All broadcasters have a legal obligation to operate in the public interest — even Disney."
The stakes are clear. If the FCC finds Disney's licenses were maintained in violation of federal law, it has options — impose conditions, shorten the license term, or deny renewal outright. Losing the owned-and-operated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and five other major markets would gut ABC as a broadcast network.
This is the second time in recent months Disney has taken legal action to make a problem go away. Earlier this year, the company paid $1 million in legal fees and made a $15 million contribution to a Trump presidential library nonprofit to settle a defamation lawsuit tied to George Stephanopoulos's comments about E. Jean Carroll.
That one worked.
The FCC investigation didn't. Disney's own answers made it worse.
Now they're trying to kill it in court.