The Walt Disney Company has taken the unusual step of launching a public outreach campaign as the media giant’s ABC broadcast division continues to draw scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
On Monday, ABC began airing public service messages urging viewers to submit comments to the FCC regarding several investigations, including the network’s apparent failure to comply with the agency’s “equal time” rules with respect to a political appearance on the daytime talk show “The View.”
The campaign includes QR codes that direct viewers to FCC public comment pages, allowing them to weigh in on the proceedings.
One set of advertisements focuses on an FCC inquiry into whether “The View” should continue to qualify as a bona fide news program under federal equal-time rules. The designation, granted by the FCC in 2002, allows the program to feature political candidates without requiring comparable airtime for their opponents.
The investigation was launched in February after the FCC signaled renewed scrutiny of programming that regularly features political figures. In guidance issued earlier this year, the commission said programs motivated by partisan purposes may not qualify for exemptions from equal-time requirements.
For years, The View and similar daytime and late-night talk show programs has enjoyed a blanket exemption to the equal time rules after the agency held that the shows were similar in nature to news programs. Under the Trump administration, the FCC and its chairman, Brendan Carr, have indicated a willingness to claw back that exemption for certain broadcasters that conduct interviews with progressive candidates without offering conservative candidates equitable airtime outside of conventional local and national news shows.
Earlier this year, The View aired an interview with Texas Representative James Talarico, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat. At the FCC’s urging, a number of ABC affiliates in Texas filed late disclosure notices in their public inspection files about the appearance. KTRK (Channel 13), the network’s owned-and-operated station in Houston, did not.
Shortly after the investigation was made public, the FCC’s Democratic Commissioner, Anna Gomez, said the FCC’s Media Bureau gave affiliates a heads-up about the matter but never extended the same courtesy to KTRK or ABC, effectively creating a controversy where one had not existed before.
ABC has also launched a separate campaign tied to the FCC’s review of broadcast licenses held by its owned-and-operated television stations in major markets including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago.
In April, the FCC initiated an early review of those licenses, a relatively rare procedure that can precede a broader examination of whether a licensee remains qualified to operate broadcast stations. The commission has said the inquiry relates to Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and whether any policies could conflict with federal prohibitions against unlawful discrimination.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the FCC said Disney’s public outreach campaign was part of a broader “misinformation” effort to persuade viewers that the equal time and diversity probes might influence who appears on their network. Carr has repeatedly stated that the review into the equal time and DEI matters are unrelated to ABC’s programming or core news content. The FCC has sent DEI-related inquiries to other broadcasters, including Comcast’s NBC Universal, but has taken no actions against conservative-favored outlets like Fox Corporation or Salem Media Group.
ABC argues that the investigations raise broader concerns about free expression and government interference with media organizations. The network has previously characterized the probes as attempts to pressure or silence content that may be critical of the administration.
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