6ABC asks viewers to submit comments to FCC during license renewal
6ABC is calling on viewers to submit comments to the FCC as license renewal dispute threatens WPVI-TV’s broadcasts.
- The FCC began “enforcement” against ABC in February. Commissioner Brendan Carr called it a procedural issue, while Commissioner Anna Gomez accused the FCC of political partisanship.
- In May, the FCC began soliciting public input on whether “The View” should be exempt from equal time rules. By the end of June, more than 50,000 comments had been received.
- ABC’s July 6 filing was in response to objections from those opposed to the exemption and accused the FCC of “callous rhetoric in the face of the fast-approaching 2026 general election.”
In a July 6 legal filing filed as part of an ongoing proceeding related to the Federal Communications Commission’s Equal Time Rule, ABC accused the Federal Communications Commission of “callous rhetoric ahead of the looming 2026 general election.”
In February, the FCC began an enforcement action against Disney-owned ABC after state Rep. James Talarico (D-Texas) appeared on “The View” while running in the state’s Democratic Senate primary.
FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr characterized the issue as a procedural one, saying ABC had not filed the proper paperwork to declare a political candidate’s appearance, which would open the opportunity for opposing candidates to request “equal time and placement.” But Commissioner Anna Gomez, appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2023, accused the FCC of engaging in partisan politics to support President Donald Trump’s objectives.
In May, the FCC began accepting public comments on whether The View should be exempted from requirements to provide equal broadcasting opportunities to political candidates. By late June, when the ABC launched a broadcast campaign to encourage public engagement on the issue, more than 50,000 comments had been received.
ABC argued that the exemption the FCC granted to “The View” in 2002 should be maintained, and in a July 6 filing said the program “has not materially changed” since then.
The filing said an “overwhelming majority” of public comments supported ABC, but it also responded to arguments from commenters who opposed the program’s exemption.
For example, in response to those who criticized “The View” for being “opinion-driven,” the network said denying viewpoint-based immunity would amount to “typical content or viewpoint-based restrictions” that are unconstitutional.
Regarding some commentators’ concerns about the ratio of right-wing and left-wing guests on the show, the ABC said the idea of having a “government-approved ideological quota” in the name of balance would amount to “a monitoring regime, not a regulatory standard.”
“The First Amendment does not allow the government to sit in the editor’s chair,” the filing states.
Gomez agreed in a July 7 post about X.
“You don’t have to like their reporting to understand the danger here,” she wrote. “Giving the government the power to decide what is newsworthy and which guests to feature is a threat to press freedom, no matter which political party is in charge.”
The complaint also accused the FCC of targeting “daytime and late-night television, programs deemed unfriendly to the current administration, while leaving open the vast milieu of talk radio where candidates routinely appear without their opponents.”
In a separate matter, the FCC in April ordered Disney-owned ABC to submit license renewals for eight of its television stations by late May, years ahead of schedule. The order said the commission was investigating the stations for “possible violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and FCC rules, including the FCC’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.”
In response, Disney said it is “confident” that “this record demonstrates our continued eligibility as a licensee under the Communications Act and the First Amendment, and we are prepared to demonstrate that through appropriate legal channels.”
“ABC should focus on complying with its public interest obligations rather than misleading the public about them,” an FCC spokesperson said in a July 7 email to USA TODAY.
The comment was the same one given in response to a campaign aired by ABC in June. The station cited those characteristics in its filing, saying, “There is nothing ‘misleading’ about this lawsuit alerting the public that the station’s editorial discretion over who appears on its programming may be violated.”
Breanna Frank is USA TODAY’s First Amendment reporter. please contact her bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded by the Freedom Forum in collaboration with our journalism funding partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
