The Trump-aligned Federal Communications Commission ordered Disney's ABC to seek early broadcast licence renewals for all eight of its owned television stations on 28 April 2026, days after First Lady Melania Trump publicly called Jimmy Kimmel's on-air joke 'hateful and violent' and demanded the network take action.
The FCC's formal order, issued under Chairman Brendan Carr, gives Disney until 28 May 2026 to file all renewal applications, pulling the licences years ahead of their scheduled 2028-to-2031 review window under what the agency describes as the Communications Act's public interest standard.
