FCC Chair Says ABC Broadcast License Review Will Weigh Network's Coverage Decision

The FCC's stated intent to factor editorial decisions into license reviews raises structural questions about the boundaries of regulatory authority over broadcast journalism.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr stated publicly that ABC's decision not to air President Donald Trump's address live would be considered during the agency's review of the network's broadcast license, according to reporting by the Washington Examiner published July 23, 2026. ABC, along with CNN and NBC, did not carry the presidential address on linear broadcast television. ABC did, however, stream the address on its digital platforms, according to the same report.

Carr's statement represents a formal signal from the FCC's top official that programming choices — specifically, a network's decision not to air a presidential address — may be treated as relevant evidence in a federal licensing proceeding. The FCC holds authority to grant, renew, or revoke broadcast licenses under 47 U.S.C. § 307, which requires stations to demonstrate operation in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity." The agency has not publicly released the specific criteria being applied to ABC's license review as of this publication date.

During the address in question, President Trump alleged that China had illegally accessed millions of U.S. voter registration files in an effort to influence the 2018 and 2020 elections, per the Washington Examiner's account. No independent verification of that claim has been cited in publicly available intelligence assessments or court filings reviewed by this publication as of July 23, 2026.

ABC's broadcast license for its owned-and-operated stations is subject to periodic FCC renewal. The specific renewal application docket number and current review timeline for ABC's license had not been publicly confirmed by the FCC in documents available at the time of publication. The FCC's full written record of the review criteria, including any formal correspondence to ABC regarding this matter, has not been made public as of this report.

What remains unknown is whether Carr's statement reflects an informal position or a documented criterion within the agency's formal license review file. The public record that would answer this question is the FCC's docket for ABC's license renewal proceeding, which would be accessible via the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). This publication will update this report upon retrieval of that record.