FCC Orders Disney to Renew ABC Station Licenses Early, Citing DEI Probe

The Federal Communications Commission has ordered all eight Disney-owned ABC television stations to file for broadcast license renewals early, years before those licenses are actually set to expire. Disney has until May 28th to comply.

The FCC says the early renewals are part of an ongoing investigation into Disney's diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which began last year. If the renewals aren't granted, the affected stations would lose the ability to broadcast entirely. Those stations include some of the country's largest, serving cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Most of the hundreds of ABC affiliates across the country are owned by other media companies and are not affected.

Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who led the agency under President Obama, called the move extraordinary. "Let me be real specific," Wheeler said. "It has been 40 years since the FCC revoked a license, a broadcast television license."

The order also comes in the middle of a very public clash between President Trump and ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. A source with knowledge of the matter tells NBC News that Kimmel's recent comments about First Lady Melania Trump will now be folded into the FCC's review. The controversy began when Kimmel, during a sketch ahead of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, joked that Melania had "a glow like an expectant widow." Melania Trump called the remarks "hateful and violent rhetoric," and President Trump called for Kimmel's firing.

Kimmel pushed back this week, saying the joke was "a very light roast" about the age gap between the couple. "It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination," he said. He also addressed Melania's statement directly on air: "I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject, and I think a great place to start would be to have a conversation with your husband about it."

Disney responded to the FCC's order saying ABC and its stations are in "full compliance with FCC rules." The company has a new CEO, Josh D'Amaro, who took over just last month.