On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered The Walt Disney Company, ABC, and television subsidiaries to file early license renewal applications for their television stations, in relation to its investigation of potential unlawful discrimination.
In a filing published by the commission’s Media Bureau, the FCC reports that the move is the latest in an ongoing probe of potential discrimination by the media giant:
“The FCC has been investigating The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, ‘Disney’s ABC’) for compliance with its obligations as a licensed broadcaster. Specifically, the FCC has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination. While Disney’s ABC has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) as part of this investigation, the FCC has determined that additional actions are appropriate at this time.”
Any official investigation gives the FCC broad authority to require an early license renewal application – which it is ordering Disney’s ABC to do – so the FCC can “ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations,” the order states:
“Specifically, FCC rules provide that whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal. Doing so both allows the FCC to conduct its ongoing investigation and enables the FCC to ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations more broadly.”
“The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard is essential within the meaning of agency regulations,” the Media Bureau says, giving Disney’s ABC 30 days to comply with its order:
“Therefore, Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days–in other words, by May 28, 2026.”
Coincidentally, the inspection of ABC’s “public interest” obligations comes amid controversy over concerns the network violated public interest by allowing late-night show Host Jimmy Kimmel to make a purported joke about the assassination of the President of the United States, Donald Trump – two days before an assassination attempt took place at the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC.
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FCC Officially Places ABC and Parent Company Disney Under Investigation – Disney’s Broadcast Licenses for Eight ABC-Owned Stations Now Under Federal Review
The Federal Communications Commission has officially placed ABC and its parent company The Walt Disney Company under investigation.
According to the FCC order issued Tuesday, Disney’s ABC must file license renewal applications to renew broadcast licenses for all eight of its owned-and-operated television stations within 30 days, well ahead of the normal renewal schedule that would have stretched from 2028 to 2031.
The FCC stated it has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and agency rules, including the prohibition on unlawful discrimination. Regulators said ABC had responded to prior Letters of Inquiry, but “additional actions are appropriate at this time.”
The letter reads:
The FCC has been investigating The Walt Disney Company, its American Broadcasting Company, and its subsidiaries (collectively, “Disney’s ABC”) for compliance with its obligations as a licensed broadcaster. Specifically, the FCC has been investigating Disney’s ABC stations for possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s rules, including the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination. While Disney’s ABC has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry (LOIs) as part of this investigation, the FCC has determined that additional actions are appropriate at this time.
Specifically, FCC rules provide that whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of a license as essential to the proper conduct of an investigation, the FCC has the authority to call the broadcaster’s licenses in for early renewal.1 Doing so both allows the FCC to conduct its ongoing investigation and enables the FCC to ensure that the broadcaster has been meeting its public interest obligations more broadly.
The FCC determines that calling in Disney’s ABC licenses for early renewal, at this time, under the Communications Act’s public interest standard2 is essential within the meaning of agency regulations. Therefore, Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days–in other words, by May 28, 2026.
The eight ABC-owned stations reportedly affected include outlets in major U.S. markets:
- New York
- Los Angeles
- Chicago
- Philadelphia
- Houston
- San Francisco
- Fresno
- Durham, North Carolina
Disney responded with the predictable corporate statement, claiming ABC has a “long record” of compliance and trusted public service programming, while insisting it remains qualified under both the Communications Act and the First Amendment.
The move comes hot on the heels of President Donald Trump’s direct demand that Disney-ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel after his vile, classless “joke” targeting First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow.” Kimmel’s disgusting monologue crossed every line of decency.
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“We Can’t Move Forward”: Brookfield-Backed Compass Abandons Virginia Data Center Project
Compass Datacenters is abandoning a massive data center project in Northern Virginia after what Bloomberg described as “intense pushback from local residents.”
The retreat comes as local opposition to data center buildouts accelerates nationwide, with residents increasingly furious over surging power demand, soaring electricity bills, land-use battles, and transmission lines cutting through neighborhoods and farmland.
We were the first to describe the epicenter of the data center buildout revolt in the Mid-Atlantic area, all the way back in the summer of 2024. This is happening as the AI infrastructure boom collides with local resistance.
Many Marylanders were upset about transmission lines and rising power bills, some of which were not necessarily due to data centers, but rather failed “green” policies by the far-left regime inAnnapolis.
The Brookfield-backed data center company told Bloomberg, “Compass has reached the unfortunate conclusion that we cannot move forward. While we still believe this project offered significant benefits for the region and our neighbors, recent legal actions and compounding regulatory hurdles have effectively closed a viable path forward.”
Compass Datacenters was planning to develop more than 800 acres in Prince William County as part of the proposed 2,100-acre Digital Gateway corridor.
The project, along with a neighboring QTS development backed by Blackstone, would have created one of the world’s largest data center hubs to expand Northern Virginia’s global data dominance.
Earlier this month, Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of Social Capital and co-host of the All-In Podcast, warned on X that polling data shows data centers are more disliked than ICE by the American people.
Palihapitiya posted the polling data:
He warned that local opposition is growing against data centers:
Meanwhile, our most recent report shows that nearly half of U.S. data centers scheduled to break ground this year are at risk of being canceled or delayed.
The great data center land rush is no longer a story about chip stacks and power. It is becoming a localized fight over power bills against tech bros.
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