Carr says Disney sued ‘in the wrong court’ as Gomez accuses FCC of pressuring broadcast news before midterms

The Federal Communications Commission has not decided whether or when to act on ABC’s broadcast licenses, Brendan Carr, the agency’s chairman, said Sept. 30, as a federal court prepared to hear Disney’s request next week for a temporary restraining order against the commission.

Carr spoke at a press conference after the FCC’s monthly open meeting, where none of the five items the commission voted on was directed at broadcasters.

The broadcast news came afterward, in back-to-back press conferences where Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez, the commission’s lone Democrat, answered questions on ABC’s licenses, White House-funded TV ads, news distortion enforcement and political advertising rates heading into the midterm elections.

“We’ve made the case in our pleadings that Disney has filed at the wrong time in the wrong court, making meritless arguments,” said Carr.

Asked whether he would attend next week’s hearing, Carr said, “I don’t think I’ll be there,” and added that “other than that, I think they’re doing pretty well in their litigation.”

ABC licenses and the Disney lawsuit

The agency issued an early renewal order to Disney, which Disney complied with by filing renewal applications, and outside parties then filed petitions to deny.

Carr argued that Disney’s lawsuit effectively challenges the early renewal order. Under the Communications Act, he said, that challenge would first go to the full commission through an application for review, with any appeal governed by Hobbs Act procedures in a federal court of appeals rather than a district court.

“I don’t feel strong-armed by it,” Carr said. “We’re moving full steam ahead with respect to our DEI investigation. We’re moving full steam ahead with our review of the license renewal proceeding.”

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Gomez described the Disney investigation differently.

“Going after Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, and by the way, putting their licenses in jeopardy over what they consider to be poor responses to their investigation, is kind of like saying you get the death penalty for a speeding ticket,” said Gomez. “It is clear that the intent is to punish the broadcaster for refusing to capitulate.”

White House ads and a Public Citizen complaint

Both commissioners were asked about a complaint Public Citizen filed with the FCC over White House-purchased airtime for ads featuring President Donald Trump. The group argued the spots are propaganda and that broadcasters could be held liable for airing them.

“There’s nothing in there that strikes me that merit any sort of FCC review or any liability in any broadcaster for running a regular, normal PSA ad,” Carr said.

Carr said he had seen the headlines and the White House’s response describing the spots as routine public service announcements. Asked about Public Citizen’s claim that one spot was originally a Trump campaign ad, he said left-leaning groups “have long worked and pushed to weaponize the FCC’s license renewal process.”

Gomez said she did not expect the complaint to go anywhere, and she contrasted that with the agency’s handling of complaints against networks.

“So unlike the investigations launched against ABC, NBC and CBS, after complaints from outside groups based on the same standard, we’re unlikely to see the FCC respond here,” Gomez said. “And this is a glaring double standard.”

Gomez also said that “as a regular citizen, not as an FCC commissioner,” she could see why people viewed the spots as political ads.

Polls, news distortion and Kristen Welker

Asked whether the commission would act on Trump’s call, about a month earlier, for FCC action against NBC reporter Kristen Welker, Carr did not address Welker directly. He instead described broadcasters’ obligations in terms of the spectrum they are licensed to use.

“Broadcast is just a fundamentally different medium than cable, than newspapers, than podcasts, in that they made a deal with the American people, that we will operate uniquely in the public interest in exchange for getting free, originally, access to spectrum,” Carr said.

He then turned to polling.

“There’s broadcasters out there that are running, you know, fake polls or polls designed to suppress or distort people’s perceptions,” Carr said. “And I think that fits squarely within the FCC’s existing news distortion policy and can be looked at through that lens.”

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Carr added that Trump “is really over the target with his view that broadcasters should be complying with their public interest obligations.”

Gomez said the news distortion policy requires proof of deliberate distortion of a significant factual news report, not an error or a difference of opinion. She noted that the commission’s own guidance points to evidence such as written or oral instructions from station management, or bribery.

“A poll a candidate does not like does not come close to meeting that standard,” Gomez said.

On Welker, Gomez said the commission had received no complaints on the matter, which she described as unusual when the administration objects to broadcast coverage.

“So absolutely it would be a violation of the First Amendment for the FCC to take any enforcement action based on a reporter’s question,” she said.

Gomez on political ad rates and equal time

Gomez opened her press conference by describing two changes made this year by FCC staff without a vote of the full commission.

The first expanded access to the lowest unit charge, the discounted rate federal law reserves for candidates buying airtime in the final weeks before an election, to political parties and joint fundraising committees.

“This is the same commission that has spent months telling broadcasters it wants them to compete with big tech and streaming,” Gomez said. “You cannot say that with a straight face and then order a fire sale on the one thing that can actually help them grow revenue.”

The second, she said, was the Media Bureau’s rewrite of guidance on which programs qualify as bona fide news interview programs exempt from the equal opportunities rule. Gomez cited Disney’s lawsuit, which states that candidates have been passed over for booking and video clips pulled because they might count as candidate appearances.

“Every network that books a candidate interview now has to wonder whether the FCC will come after them or worse punish their local stations,” Gomez said.

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Ownership cap and Paramount

The commission has not released the national ownership cap order it voted on in July. Carr attributed the delay to the time needed to respond to dissents and legal arguments in the record, along with August staff absences.

“I think we’re going to be moving forward in short order with that pursuant to our normal sort of timelines and procedures,” Carr said.

Asked about the commission’s recent declaratory ruling tied to the Paramount-Warner Bros. deal, which was reviewed through the Team Telecom national security process, Carr said the ruling covered only financial stakes. “It’s equity. It’s not voting,” he said, adding that he did not think there was “anything too remarkable about it at the end of the day.”

Carr also responded to an allegation by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., that Paramount provided Carr $12,000 in Kennedy Center Honors tickets in 2024. “I don’t know what Raskin is talking about and I don’t think that he does either,” Carr said. He said attendance at the event by officials of both parties has gone through standard ethics review for years. Gomez said she attended the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors and that her office seeks guidance from the FCC’s Office of General Counsel before attending any event.

What the commission voted on

All five meeting items were adopted. The commission voted 2-1 to exempt most private wireless infrastructure and satellite operations from its National Environmental Policy Act review rules, with Gomez dissenting on the order and approving the accompanying further notice. Carr said the change is expected to save more than $2 billion in compliance costs over 10 years.

The commission also voted unanimously to open more than 1,000 megahertz in the 12.7-13.25 GHz and 42-42.5 GHz bands to expand satellite use, and sought comment on freeing an additional 1,450 megahertz in three more bands. The 12.7-13.25 GHz band is also allocated to broadcast auxiliary service and cable television relay service links used for newsgathering and backhaul. Neither the staff presentation nor the commissioners’ statements addressed those operations.

A notice of proposed rulemaking opened the first comprehensive review of ultra-wideband device rules since they were adopted in 2002. Staff noted that ultra-wideband, a low-power short-range radio technology, is used in NFL footballs, and Commissioner Olivia Trusty cited its use in tracking athletes’ speed and movement. The commission also opened an inquiry into its 911 framework and revised Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules on revoking consent to robocalls.

The commission’s next open meeting is Oct. 29.