Public Notice DA 26-530 revives public-interest duties as ABC blasts an early license-renewal order as “unconstitutional retaliation”

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has once again pushed to the center of its regulatory posture an old principle: a broadcast license is not property a company owns, but a public trust it is entrusted to operate for a limited term.

美 FCC “방송 면허는 권리 아닌 공적 신탁”…공익성 의무 앞세워 지상파 압박
미 FCC가 지상파 면허를 ‘공적 신탁’으로 재확인하며 공익 의무 미이행 시 회수 가능성을 경고. ABC는 조기 면허갱신 명령을 정치적·위헌적 압박이라 반발하며 규제 권한·공익성·정치화 리스크를 둘러싼 충돌이 격화
K-EnterTech HubJung Han

In a Public Notice issued May 28 (DA 26-530), the agency stated that “no broadcaster has a ‘right’ to use the public spectrum.” It warned that the licenses of operators who fail to adequately meet their public-interest obligations may be revoked, and that the spectrum could be reassigned to others who will faithfully carry out those duties.

The same day, Disney-owned ABC pushed back hard. After the FCC designated the licenses of its owned-and-operated (O&O) stations for early renewal, ABC publicly countered that the move was “unconstitutional retaliation and improper coercion.” The episode has once again surfaced the tension between the regulator and major broadcasters.