ABC, in a new filing in its First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC, claims that the agency’s early-license renewal demand for its local TV stations was done in such a way as to circumvent “judicial review.”
\n\nOn Aug. 18, ABC sued the FCC and chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist, alleging the commission was waging an “extraordinary assault” on its First Amendment rights through the implicit threat of revoking its broadcast licenses for eight owned-and-operated stations. The FCC insists its order requiring ABC to apply for early license renewals was initiated from the agency’s investigation into alleged diversity, equity and inclusion employment practices at Disney and ABC.
\n\nAt an Oct. 6 hearing, Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who is hearing the case, instructed the FCC to submit a supplemental filing “on the list of alternative tools to compel discovery” in its DEI investigation into Disney and ABC other than early license renewals.
\n\nOn Monday, ABC responded to the FCC’s filing. The FCC had argued at the hearing that “‘the license renewal process is not about the licenses,’ but rather an attempt to deal with what they claim to be a discovery deficiency”…
Original source: https://variety.com/v/tv/