ABC decides a court docket is cheaper than another year of FCC accommodation

Disney, ABC and the eight broadcast stations they own filed a complaint against the FCC and Chairman Brendan Carr in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, along with a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the proceeding in which Carr is threatening to deny renewal of those stations' licenses ^[1][2][3]. The filing matters less as rhetoric than as a change of venue: a company that had been answering the agency with letters, a paid settlement and one skipped live broadcast has decided a judge is a cheaper forum than a hearing room ^[17][18].

The specific ask is narrow and procedural. ABC wants the court to stop any further action in the early license review Carr ordered for all eight stations, and in particular to prevent the FCC from issuing a Hearing Designation Order, which the complaint says would all but guarantee a negative outcome ^[4]. That is the pressure point. The stations' licenses are scheduled for renewal between 2028 and 2031, and Carr took the unusual step of ordering them to file several years early ^[5], a move that collapses a renewal schedule spread across three years into one simultaneous proceeding ^[26].

The complaint's theory of harm is that ABC loses either way. At one extreme, the FCC prolongs the process, miring the company in years of costly litigation with every editorial judgment shadowed by the prospect of further retaliation ^[9]. At the other, it uses the hearing to deny renewal or revoke the licenses outright, "forcing Plaintiffs off the air entirely, as the President has repeatedly demanded" ^[10]. "In either scenario," the complaint says, "the Administration accomplishes its goal of eliminating a perceived media critic: either it gets Plaintiffs to fall in line, or it silences them if they refuse" ^[11]. Revoking a license mid-term has been described as somewhere between difficult and effectively impossible ^[7], which is precisely why the early-filing order is the instrument in play.

The documentary core is Trump's own posts. The filing reproduces several Truth Social messages complaining about ABC's coverage and calling for its licenses to be terminated ^[12], including a September 2025 post congratulating ABC "for finally having the courage to do what had to be done" after Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air; the show was later restored ^[13]. An October 2024 post said CBS "should lose its license, and it should be bid out to the Highest Bidder, as should all other Broadcast Licenses" ^[14]. That is the function of the docket: it converts posts into exhibits on motive.

The timeline behind it is short. The FCC opened an investigation into The View's airtime for political candidates in February and ordered the Disney-owned stations to file early renewals in April ^[6]. Bloomberg reported in July that the agency could act against ABC and Disney as soon as this month ^[20]. Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the commission, called the campaign one of "censorship and control" and said Disney's pushback should be a welcome sign for other broadcasters ^[21]. The FCC did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment ^[22].

Watch whether the court rules on the restraining order before the FCC issues a Hearing Designation Order; that sequence decides who sets the calendar. Watch also whether any other licensee files rather than settles. Paramount's CBS took the other road, and its 60 Minutes newsroom has been emptying since ^[16].