ABC Sues F.C.C. to Block Threat to Its TV Licenses

ABC sued the Federal Communications Commission, accusing the agency of infringing on its First Amendment rights. It asked a federal court to stop the FCC from pursuing aggressive regulatory moves that the network said posed an “existential threat” to its operations. The lawsuit was unusual, a rare example of a major media organization suing the Trump administration over its unrelenting campaign to punish the national press through regulation and lawsuits. The suit, filed in federal court in Washington, is meant to halt a series of FCC moves that placed the network’s ability to operate in doubt. In the most extreme case, the agency was threatening to strip several ABC stations of their broadcast licenses, which would force them off the air. ABC owns and operates eight local stations that carry its programming across the country, including in major markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Like all local stations, they can only operate with licenses controlled by the FCC.