MEDIA POLICY
The FCC moves to dismiss ABC’s suit over the early renewal of eight stations; Korea’s commission has deferred a revocation vote on Eugene’s YTN approval three times, and JTBC entered receivership with its approval expired
The Federal Communications Commission on Sept. 3 asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the lawsuit brought by ABC and its parent, The Walt Disney Company. The 46-page motion was filed under the name of U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. The FCC opened an early license renewal review of eight ABC-owned stations in April, and ABC has asked the court to halt it. The first hearing is Oct. 6.
U.S. broadcast licences run for eight years and come up for renewal at the end of that term. Once a renewal proceeding opens, viewers and organizations may file petitions to deny, and the commission cannot refuse a renewal without notice and a hearing before an administrative law judge. Stations broadcast throughout. What made this case an issue in the U.S. industry is not a denial but the decision to pull the review forward — using a provision last invoked in 1972.
Two matters sit in parallel in Seoul. The Korea Communications and Media Commission (방송미디어통신위원회) failed on Aug. 14, at its 28th plenary session, to decide whether to revoke on its own authority the approval that made Eugene ENT (유진이엔티) the largest shareholder of the news channel YTN. It was the third deferral, after April and July. JTBC, whose approval as a general programming channel expired on Nov. 30 last year, was placed in receivership by the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on Aug. 28. The commission said on June 25 that it was reviewing when to hold the relicensing examination, and had set no date by early September (Mediaus, Sept. 3). Korean news and general programming channels must be re-approved every three to five years, and a change in largest shareholder requires a separate approval.
All three proceedings apply to holders of a broadcast license or approval. Netflix and YouTube enter none of them. The U.S. Communications Act defines broadcasting as the dissemination of radio communications and attaches the licensing duty to that transmission; internet delivery falls outside the definition. In Korea, streaming services register as value-added telecommunications providers and are not subject to broadcast licensing, approval or relicensing.
Streaming accounted for 48.5% of U.S. television time in June, according to Nielsen’s August Gauge report. Broadcast took 19.8% and cable 19.5%. In Korea, streaming use reached 81.8% in 2025 and paid streaming use 65.5%, while pay-TV subscription fell for a third year to 91.4% (KCMC 2025 Broadcasting Media Usage Survey).
The eight ABC stations stay on the air throughout the review. YTN operates with the legal basis of its controlling stake unsettled. JTBC carries a sale process and a relicensing examination at the same time. All three proceedings landed on operators whose viewing and revenue are falling, and none on the operators whose are rising.
A 46-page motion… “exclusive review in the D.C. Circuit”
The ground for dismissal is jurisdiction. Section 402 of the Communications Act places appeals from the denial, modification or revocation of a broadcast licence in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, with a 30-day filing window from public notice. “The statute is clear that action seeking to enjoin or otherwise block any such [FCC] order [involving ABC licenses] is subject to exclusive review in the D.C. Circuit,” Pirro wrote (Policyband, Sept. 4).
If the jurisdictional argument holds, Disney would have to wait for the FCC to finish its review and then challenge the outcome in the appeals court, while the renewal proceeding on the eight stations keeps running inside the agency. That is what the motion is worth to the FCC.
The motion also contests causation, arguing the plaintiffs failed to establish “the necessary causal link between their protected speech and the early renewal proceedings.” On timing, it argues Carr announced the discrimination investigation well before the review of “The View,” Jimmy Kimmel’s joke, and the July remarks about the president’s speech (Cord Cutters News).
“Disney was not content to let the Commission’s ordinary investigative processes (and, if needed, ordinary processes of judicial review) run their course. They instead ask this Court to halt the license renewal proceeding in its tracks by issuing a preliminary injunction.” — FCC motion to dismiss, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4
ABC and Disney sued on Aug. 18 and asked for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. The complaint states that “acting through the Federal Communications Commission, the Administration has waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts” (CBS News, Aug. 18). An FCC spokesperson said Disney “filed a meritless lawsuit in an effort to stop the FCC’s ongoing investigation into allegations that Disney violated the law,” adding that the agency “has developed a voluminous record, and it will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they lead” (Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4). Judge Loren L. AliKhan set the first hearing for Oct. 6.
The investigation opened in March 2025… two inquiry letters, then “deficient and disingenuous”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr wrote to Disney chief executive Robert A. Iger on March 27, 2025, directing the Enforcement Bureau to open an investigation. The letter said he wanted “to ensure that Disney ends any and all discriminatory initiatives in substance, not just name.” The authority cited was the Communications Act and the commission’s equal employment opportunity rules, which bar discrimination by race, color, religion, national origin, age and sex. The items named were ABC’s mandatory inclusion standards, the “Reimagine Tomorrow” campaign, a requirement that 50% of regular and recurring characters come from underrepresented groups, and demographic criteria for writers, directors and suppliers (Washington Informer, April 1, 2025; Benton Institute).
Carr had written a month earlier, in February 2025, to Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts, asking whether the company was “promoting invidious forms of discrimination in violation of FCC regulations and civil rights laws” and demanding records on Comcast and NBCUniversal’s DEI policies (CNBC, Feb. 12, 2025). No further action in that inquiry has been made public as of September 2026.
The Disney investigation ran through two letters of inquiry. According to Carr’s June 3 reply to senators (DOC-422450A2), the first went out in June 2025 and a supplemental letter in February 2026. Carr called Disney’s responses “deficient, nonresponsive, and disingenuous.” Against the charge of selective targeting, he cited two inquiry letters and an April 2026 early renewal call-in for Bridge News, LLC, and a short-term renewal for SPB LLC over public-file violations. Which records were deficient, and how, does not appear in the public documents.
The commission is running equal employment opportunity audits this year covering about 5% of all stations, with responses due Oct. 20. Questions added since 2025 cover internal employee complaints about race, sex and diversity, discipline for failing to follow diversity policies, and the use of race-based hiring databases. Carr said Disney “appears to be nervous about what the record shows” (Radio Ink, Aug. 24).
The order carries two footnotes… the call-in provision was last used in 1972
The April 28 order, DA 26-416, is a Media Bureau document. It went out without a vote of the five commissioners, under delegated authority — a routine form of FCC action that ABC does not contest. It cites two authorities — Section 307 of the Communications Act and 47 CFR 73.3539 — and carries two footnotes. Rule 73.3539(c) permits the commission to direct that a renewal application be filed by a date certain “whenever the FCC regards an application for a renewal of license as essential to the proper conduct of a hearing or investigation.” The order states that “Disney’s ABC is hereby directed to file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days — in other words, by May 28, 2026.” Its account of the investigation is a single sentence: that Disney’s ABC “has purported to respond to two FCC Letters of Inquiry.”
The provision was last used in the 1972 Leflore Broadcasting case. A joint comment filed on July 28 by five former FCC chairs and commissioners called this order “virtually unprecedented” on that basis, and argued that Leflore concerned a station’s failure to deliver promised local service and possible misrepresentations to the commission — matters unrelated to editorial content. The signatories include Mark S. Fowler and Dennis R. Patrick, appointed under Reagan; Alfred C. Sikes, appointed under Bush; and Thomas E. Wheeler, appointed under Obama (Variety, July 28).
What decides a renewal is Section 309(k). The commission shall grant a renewal where the station has served the public interest, there have been no serious violations of the Act or the rules, and no other violations amounting to a pattern of abuse.
Where those are not met, renewal may be denied or granted with conditions, and denial requires notice and a hearing. Licence terms run no longer than eight years under Section 307(c). ABC cites Section 307(d), which bars granting a renewal more than 30 days before expiry, as a ground for calling the early renewal unlawful.
The eight Disney-owned ABC stations called in for early renewal
Sources: FCC Order DA 26-416 (April 28, 2026); Nielsen 2024-25 season DMA household estimates
The eight markets hold 27,452,970 TV households together, 21.9% of the roughly 125.5 million U.S. TV households in Nielsen’s 2024-25 season estimate.
The stations had been due for renewal between 2028 and 2031, and KABC-TV in Los Angeles holds a licence through 2030. Six of the eight are in the country’s largest markets and carry a substantial share of network revenue, according to the complaint (NPR, Aug. 18).
BIA Advisory Services puts the 2026 U.S. local advertising market at $184.5 billion (about 248 trillion won), split between $104.1 billion in digital (about 140 trillion won) and $80.4 billion in traditional media (about 108 trillion won). Local political advertising is forecast at $8.4 billion (about 11.29 trillion won) (TV Tech, April 9).
151,523 comments in Docket 26-131… petitions to deny came from both directions
After ABC filed on May 28, the Media Bureau issued a public notice the next day (DA 26-541) accepting the eight renewal applications and opening MB Docket No. 26-131 — the public filing window the FCC opens for each proceeding, where every submission is visible and becomes part of the record. Petitions to deny were due June 29, oppositions July 29 and replies Aug. 5. The notice framed the inquiry as whether hiring, promotion and compensation decisions turned on protected characteristics.
The Center for American Rights filed a 66-page petition to deny on June 29. Its president, Daniel Suhr, argued that ABC stations “have used public spectrum to suppress news coverage of the most critical stories of our day; to engage in electioneering and relentless political bias.” The Media Research Center, the Article III Project, America First Legal and a former ABC employee also filed.
The Media Action Center and Frequency Forward filed from the other direction, asking not for denial but for immediate and unconditional renewal and for a bar on any closed-door settlement between the FCC and Disney. Their counsel, Art Belendiuk, said “this unprecedented strategy is necessary because the FCC has taken the unprecedented step of threatening the integrity of the news by seeking to replace ABC’s journalistic judgment with an administration-friendly point of view” (The Desk, June 26; Communications Daily, July 1).
Comments in the docket reached 151,523 by July 29, with 100,801 filed in the preceding 30 days, making it the most active docket at the commission at the time (TV Tech, July 29). ABC filed a 109-page pleading on July 30 asking that the proceeding be dismissed.
It states that “the FCC has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the stations’ licenses,” and that “for the first time in history, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an entire group of local television stations … to undergo simultaneous license renewal proceedings well before their current licenses expire.” ABC cited more than 150,000 public comments, over 95% of them supporting renewal, along with about 370 local organizations and 236 elected officials (The Wrap, July 30).
Gomez calls it “the most egregious action”… 12 senators demand the order be rescinded
Commissioner Anna Gomez issued a dissenting statement on the day of the order, April 28 (DOC-421194A1). “This is the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date,” it reads. “As part of its ongoing campaign of censorship and control, the White House called publicly for the silencing of a vocal critic, and this FCC has now answered that call.” After ABC sued, Gomez said on Aug. 19 that Disney “has found its courage” (NPR, Aug. 19).
Twelve senators wrote to Carr on May 7 demanding the order be rescinded immediately. The signatories include Edward Markey, Charles Schumer, Maria Cantwell and Elizabeth Warren. The letter calls the order, “coming just one day after President Donald Trump publicly demanded ABC fire late-night host Jimmy Kimmel,” an “extraordinary abuse of power.” Its four questions include a demand for White House communications between April 22 and 28 and for every past instance in which Rule 73.3539(c) was invoked. A footnote notes the commission keeps no public list of early-renewal orders, and that a 2018 petition put the last use at 1972.
Carr replied on June 3 with the investigation’s start date and the timing of the inquiry letters, framing the action as ordinary enforcement. The reply does not disclose the White House communications. House Energy and Commerce Democrats had written on April 30 that Carr “ordered an early review of Disney’s ABC licenses in obvious retaliation for a joke made by Jimmy Kimmel,” noting that “the earliest license renewal is not due until 2028.”
Regional lawmakers followed. A July 22 letter led by Rep. Kevin Mullin and signed by 15 members including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the review of San Francisco’s KGO-TV “merely a smokescreen to pursue President Trump’s vindictive agenda to silence minority voices and punish companies that decline to do his bidding.” Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff wrote on July 27 that KABC-TV, KGO-TV and KFSN-TV “have not merely satisfied that standard, they exemplify it,” and asked that the applications be decided “free from political considerations.”
‘The View’ equal-time docket 26-124… non-carriage of a presidential speech enters the review
Section 315(a) requires a broadcaster that gives airtime to one candidate to offer equal time to the others, with an exemption for bona fide news interview programs. ABC and KTRK-TV petitioned on May 7 for a declaratory ruling that “The View” falls within that exemption. The trigger was an appearance by James Talarico, a Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, after which ABC affiliates in the state received equal-time requests. The FCC opened MB Docket No. 26-124 by public notice on May 22 (DA 26-517), asking both whether the program qualifies and whether the equal-time provision survives constitutional scrutiny. The docket held 78,720 comments as of July 29, and no ruling has issued (Wiley, May 29; TV Tech).
ABC and NBC did not carry President Trump’s White House address in prime time in July. Trump raised broadcast licences on July 17 (Axios, July 17). Carr told a press conference on July 22 that “when you have the president of the United States standing inside the White House delivering an important speech, I think that’s something that broadcasters should be carrying,” and indicated it would factor into the renewal review (The Desk, July 22).
The FCC approved the Paramount-Skydance merger on July 24, 2025 with conditions that included eliminating DEI programs in the United States and appointing an ombudsman for complaints of ideological bias in news. Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million (about 21.5 billion won) shortly before approval. Gomez wrote in dissent that “in an unprecedented move, this once-independent FCC used its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom” (NPR, July 24, 2025).
Former chair Jessica Rosenworcel dismissed news distortion complaints against WPVI, WCBS-TV, WNBC and WTXF on Jan. 16, 2025 on First Amendment grounds. Carr reinstated three of them after taking office. The original complainant was the Center for American Rights, the same group that filed the petition to deny against the ABC renewals (TV Tech, Jan. 22, 2025).
Streaming 48.5% against broadcast 19.8%… the licence duty attaches to radio transmission
Streaming’s 48.5% in the June Gauge count exceeded the 39.3% held by broadcast and cable combined. Nielsen has said it will recalibrate from this season using the Advertising Research Foundation’s DASH data, and the industry expects the recalculated figures to narrow streaming’s lead (MediaPost, Aug. 18).
47 U.S.C. §153 defines broadcasting as “the dissemination of radio communications intended to be received by the public” and radio communication as “the transmission by radio of writing, signs, signals, pictures, and sounds of all kinds.” The licensing duty in §301 attaches to transmission “by radio.” Services delivered over the internet fall outside that definition, and so outside licensing and renewal review. Rosenworcel told a Senate oversight hearing in November 2023 that on regulating virtual multichannel providers, “those who want us to act will have to go to Congress” (Next TV, Dec. 1, 2023).
In Korea, streaming services file a registration as value-added telecommunications providers under Article 22 of the Telecommunications Business Act and are not subject to broadcast licensing, approval or registration.
They carry none of the broadcasting development fund levy, programming quotas or advertising content rules that apply to broadcasters (Newstomato, Aug. 4). Rep. Choi Min-hee introduced an Audiovisual Media Services Act on June 18 that would place terrestrial broadcasters, streaming services and YouTube under one framework. That bill is also built on notification rather than licensing, and had not passed the National Assembly as of Sept. 6 (ZDNet Korea, June 18).
Where licence and approval rules reach
Sources: 47 U.S.C. §153, §301, §307, §309; 47 CFR 73.3539; Telecommunications Business Act Art. 22; Newstomato, Aug. 4; Digital Daily, June 23
Eugene’s YTN stake: a court voided the two-member vote, then three deferrals
The Korea Communications Commission approved a change in YTN’s largest shareholder on Feb. 7, 2024, clearing Eugene ENT to buy the 30.95% stake (13 million common shares) held by KEPCO KDN (한전KDN) and the Korea Racing Authority (한국마사회) for 319.9 billion won (about $238 million).
The commission then had two of five seats filled — Chairman Kim Hong-il and Vice Chairman Lee Sang-in. Ten conditions came with the approval: a media professional as chief executive, outside directors and auditors unconnected to Eugene Group, a ban on pressing the newsroom on the controlling shareholder’s behalf, and 40 billion won of additional investment over five years among them (Newsis, Feb. 7, 2024).
The Seoul Administrative Court set the approval aside on Nov. 28, 2025, finding a procedural defect in a vote taken with only two members present; a five-member collegial body, it held, needs at least three participants. The union branch’s claim was dismissed for lack of standing and the employee stock ownership association’s upheld (Media Today and Hankook Ilbo, Nov. 28, 2025). Eugene ENT appealed alone to the Seoul High Court on Dec. 4, and Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho directed the commission not to appeal on Dec. 18.
The five commissioners split at the Aug. 14 session. Chairman Kim Jong-cheol recused himself and standing commissioner Ko Min-soo acted as chair. Ko said the approval “is void, or at the least must be revoked.” Yoon Sung-ok said the commission “can revoke it on its own authority under Article 18 of the Framework Act on Administrative Procedure.” Choi Soo-young said “the facts confirmed so far do not sufficiently establish the legal requirements for revocation,” and Lee Sang-geun said waiting for a Supreme Court ruling was his position (ZDNet Korea and Newsis, Aug. 14).
The commission ordered YTN and Yonhap News TV on May 15 to correct their failure to form CEO nomination committees, and cut three months from each company’s approval term on Aug. 28, setting Oct. 10 as the deadline (Money Today, Aug. 28). YTN’s 2025 revenue was 134.2 billion won (about $99.9 million) with an operating loss of 13.6 billion won (Digital Today, Feb. 11, 2026).
JTBC: a 20.6 billion won default, then receivership, with relicensing nine months overdue
JTBC failed on June 12 to repay 20.6 billion won (about $15.3 million) of securitized borrowing, four months after issuing 93 billion won of unsecured corporate bonds in February. Joongang Holdings, Joongang P&I, Contentree Joongang and Megabox Joongang filed for receivership on June 14, and JTBC on June 15.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court first allowed JTBC an autonomous restructuring support period — a pause that defers receivership to let a company negotiate directly with creditors — and opened formal proceedings on Aug. 28 when those talks did not advance. Existing management serves as administrator, subject to replacement if fault is established. A reorganization plan is due Jan. 29, 2027 (Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankyung, Aug. 28).
JTBC’s default and receivership. Sources: Kyunghyang Shinmun, Hankyung, Financial News
At the end of 2025 JTBC’s total equity stood at 19 billion won against accumulated losses of 703.3 billion won (SBS, June 16). Joongang Holdings had consolidated equity of minus 14.04 billion won against consolidated liabilities of 1.23 trillion won (Newdaily, June 15). Credit analysts put the group’s combined borrowings at about 2.8 trillion won as of end-2025 (Invest Chosun, June 15).
JTBC posted 2025 revenue of 333.7 billion won and operating profit of 3.2 billion won. Vice Chairman Hong Jung-do said in his New Year message that JTBC was the only one of five broadcasters to grow both advertising revenue and share in a market down about 20%, and that it had returned to profit (Media Today).
Advertising revenue had fallen from 238.4 billion won in 2021 to 189.1 billion won in 2025 (MTN, June 15). The bond issue came two months after that announcement, and the default four months after the bond issue.
Bondholders argue JTBC was already in substantive capital erosion when the February bonds were sold: strip out 154.4 billion won of hybrid securities — bonds with very long or no maturity that count as equity in accounting terms — bought by affiliates and booked as equity, they say, and real equity was minus 135.4 billion won (Kyunghyang Shinmun and Herald Business, July 13). The Financial Supervisory Service opened examinations of Shinhan Investment and Kiwoom Securities on July 2 and extended them to Hanyang Securities (Sisa Journal e). JTBC said on July 13 that the hybrid issuance and the lending complied with accounting standards and capital-market rules and were disclosed (Hankyung, July 14).
JTBC’s approval as a general programming channel expired on Nov. 30, 2025. The commission formed a six-member review panel in April but had fixed no examination date by early September. The National Assembly Research Service listed the matter among this year’s audit issues, asking why the commission failed to monitor JTBC’s financial condition (Mediaus, Sept. 3).
The commission heard JTBC’s chief executive on June 24, pressing on World Cup broadcast continuity and protection for freelance and outsourced workers, and said on June 25 that the receivership filing made a full revision of the relicensing business plan unavoidable (Digital Daily, June 25). Chairman Kim Jong-cheol said on June 16 that JTBC “has to go through the relicensing process, and financial and technical capacity is one of the core areas we will examine closely” (Segye Ilbo).
A 30% conglomerate cap and a 20% foreign cap narrow the field of buyers
What makes the JTBC sale difficult is not only the company’s finances but the ownership rules in the Broadcasting Act. Conglomerates with assets above 10 trillion won cannot hold more than 30% of a general programming or news channel, and foreign capital is capped at 20%. A buyer must also obtain approval for the change in largest shareholder, with relicensing requirements attached, so capital alone does not secure control. Industry voices argue that under the current law few companies can buy JTBC at all (Digital Daily, June 23; MTN, Sept. 1). The sale adviser, the bidders and the size of the stake on offer had not been disclosed as of Sept. 6.
Netflix Services Korea posted 2025 revenue of 1.0542 trillion won (about $784 million), up 17%, with operating profit of 20.3 billion won. Of that revenue, 853.9 billion won — 81% — was remitted to headquarters as payment for subscription memberships, and corporate tax expense was 6.6 billion won (Money Today, April 23). Over the same period Korea’s terrestrial broadcasters posted a third consecutive operating loss, 117.4 billion won in 2025 (KCMC financial disclosure, June 19).
2025 results, broadcasters and streaming services
Sources: Money Today, April 23 (Netflix); Media Today, April 7 (channels and YTN); Money Today, April 19 and Newstomato, April 14 (Tving, Wavve); KCMC financial disclosure, June 19 (terrestrial)
Tving posted its first quarterly profit in the second quarter of 2026, with revenue of 140.7 billion won and operating profit of 6 billion won (Digital Daily, Aug. 6). Its merger with Wavve was conditionally cleared by the Korea Fair Trade Commission on June 10 last year through an executive-interlock structure, and CJ ENM confirmed on Aug. 6 that talks would resume in the second half. That merger faces competition review, not broadcast relicensing.
Broadcast revenue down three years running, advertising off 12.3%… usage moved the other way
Broadcast business revenue in 2025 was 18.6495 trillion won, down 0.8% and falling for a third straight year, according to the financial disclosure the commission published on June 19. Broadcast advertising revenue fell 12.3% to 2.0134 trillion won. Between 2021 and 2025, broadcast advertising declined an average 10.6% a year while mobile advertising grew 7.5% (Money Today, June 19).
In the commission’s 2025 media usage survey, streaming use rose to 81.8% from 77.0% in 2023 and paid streaming use rose 8.5 points to 65.5%, while pay-TV subscription fell to 91.4%. Watching streaming on a television set rose 12.6 points to 36.4%. Smartphones were named the essential medium by 74.9% of respondents and television by 23.0%. Pay-TV subscribers numbered 36.15 million in the second half of 2025, down 76,030 from the previous period (KCMC, May 29).
Streaming use and pay-TV subscription in Korea. Source: KCMC Broadcasting Media Usage Survey
Three of five seats at the FCC, two of five in Seoul… orders from under-strength commissions
The FCC has three sitting members — Carr, Olivia Trusty and Gomez — with two seats vacant. Trump nominated Danielle Thumann Severs, a former Carr adviser, on Aug. 10; confirmation would make the lineup 3-1 (Axios, Aug. 10). The February 2024 approval of Eugene ENT’s YTN purchase was voted by a Korea Communications Commission with two of five seats filled, and the Seoul Administrative Court held that composition unlawful. The two are not the same in character: the FCC’s Media Bureau order under delegated authority is a routine form of action that ABC does not contest, while Korea’s two-member vote is what the court struck down.
Governance and hiring, not programs… and no decision in any of the three
The FCC inquiry began with Disney’s hiring and diversity policies, and the renewal review opened on that investigation rather than on programming. The Korean commission shortened the approval terms of YTN and Yonhap News TV over CEO nomination committees. April’s relicensing added conditions on the treatment of non-regular workers and workplace harassment, and for JTBC the chairman named financial and technical capacity as the item to examine.
The eight ABC stations have been under review for four months since filing on May 28, with no Media Bureau decision. The YTN revocation item has sat with the commission for ten months since the trial ruling last November. JTBC’s approval expired nine months ago and no examination date is set. Broadcasting continues in all three, and only the regulatory status stays unsettled.
Unlicensed operators hold 48.5% of viewing… the instruments remain where revenue is falling
The operators holding 48.5% of U.S. viewing time and used by 81.8% of Koreans have no licence or approval and face no examination. Renewal review, relicensing and ownership-change approval apply instead to eight U.S. stations covering 21.9% of national TV households, to a Korean news channel whose ownership is legally unsettled, and to a general programming channel in receivership. Korean broadcast advertising fell 12.3% to 2.0134 trillion won in 2025 and terrestrial broadcasters posted a third straight operating loss, while Netflix Services Korea recorded 1.0542 trillion won of revenue and 20.3 billion won of operating profit.
The 30% conglomerate cap and 20% foreign cap narrow the field of buyers for JTBC. With no date set for the relicensing examination, when a buyer would have to satisfy the approval requirements is also unsettled. Korean companies buying into or partnering with U.S. stations cannot read the regulatory calendar from a licence expiry date. Investors putting capital into Korean broadcasters weigh the possibility that an approval will be contested on procedural grounds after it is granted.
On Oct. 6, Judge AliKhan takes up jurisdiction first. If the district court declines, Disney would have to go to the D.C. Circuit after the FCC proceeding concludes, and the renewal review of the eight stations stays with the commission; a denial by the Media Bureau would send the matter to an administrative law judge. The YTN revocation item has not been scheduled for a next session, and the compliance deadline for YTN and Yonhap News TV is Oct. 10. JTBC’s reorganization plan is due Jan. 29, 2027.
Sources
Meg James, “FCC asks court to reject ABC’s 1st Amendment claims,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 4, 2026
Ted Hearn, “D.C. Memo: Who’s Battling Disney for the FCC? Judge Jeanine!,” Policyband, Sept. 4, 2026
“FCC Moves to Dismiss ‘Meritless’ ABC First Amendment Suit,” TheWrap, Sept. 4, 2026; Cord Cutters News, September 2026
“Disney, ABC sue FCC over early license renewal,” CBS News and CNBC, Aug. 18, 2026; NPR, Aug. 18, 2026
FCC, Order DA 26-416 (April 28, 2026); Public Notice DA 26-541, MB Docket No. 26-131 (May 29, 2026)
FCC, Statement of Commissioner Anna Gomez, DOC-421194A1, April 28, 2026
Letter from 12 U.S. senators (DOC-422450A1), May 7, 2026; Chairman Carr’s reply, DOC-422450A2, June 3, 2026
House Energy and Commerce Democrats letter, April 30, 2026; Rep. Kevin Mullin and 15 members, July 22, 2026; Sens. Padilla and Schiff, July 27, 2026
Joint comment of former FCC chairs and commissioners (filed by Protect Democracy), July 28, 2026; Variety, July 28, 2026
“Comments on FCC License Renewal of ABC Stations Top 150,000,” TV Tech, July 29, 2026
Tess Patton, “ABC asks FCC to dismiss early renewal proceedings,” TheWrap, July 30, 2026
“Conservative Groups File Petitions to Deny Disney Licenses,” Communications Daily, July 1, 2026; The Desk, June 26, 2026
Carr letter to Disney CEO, March 27, 2025 (Washington Informer, April 1, 2025; Benton Institute)
“Comcast, NBCUniversal FCC inquiry on DEI,” CNBC, Feb. 12, 2025; The Media Institute, Feb. 13, 2025
“FCC’s annual EEO audits arrive amid DEI investigation concerns,” Radio Ink, Aug. 24, 2026
FCC, Public Notice DA 26-517, MB Docket No. 26-124, May 22, 2026; Wiley client alert, May 29, 2026
“Trump threatens broadcast licenses over speech coverage,” Axios, July 17, 2026; The Desk, July 22, 2026
“FCC approves Paramount-Skydance,” NPR, July 24, 2025
“FCC reinstates news distortion complaints,” TV Tech, Jan. 22, 2025
47 U.S.C. §153, §301, §307, §309, §402; 47 CFR §73.3539 (Cornell Law School LII; eCFR)
“Streaming Climbs To 48.5%, Per Last Lame Duck Edition Of Nielsen’s ‘Gauge’,” MediaPost, Aug. 18, 2026
Nielsen 2024-25 season DMA household estimates; 2025-26 season universe estimates
“BIA Increases 2026 Local Ad Forecast to $184.5 Billion,” TV Tech, April 9, 2026
“FCC Chair: Regulatory Authority Over Streaming Must Come From Congress,” Next TV, Dec. 1, 2023
“Trump nominates Carr aide Danielle Thumann Severs to the FCC,” Axios, Aug. 10, 2026
“YTN 인수하는 유진기업…보도 개입·내부거래 등 금지,” Newsis, Feb. 7, 2024
Seoul Administrative Court ruling coverage, Media Today and Hankook Ilbo, Nov. 28, 2025; Ajou Business Daily, Dec. 4, 2025
“방미통위, YTN 최대주주 변경승인 대립,” ZDNet Korea and Newsis, Aug. 14, 2026
“방미통위, YTN·연합뉴스TV 승인 유효기간 3개월 단축,” Money Today, Aug. 28, 2026; Digital Today, Feb. 11, 2026
JTBC receivership coverage, Kyunghyang Shinmun, Hankyung and Financial News, Aug. 28, 2026; SBS, June 16, 2026; Newdaily, June 15, 2026; Invest Chosun, June 15, 2026
Bondholder claims, Kyunghyang Shinmun and Herald Business, July 13, 2026; JTBC statement, Hankyung, July 14, 2026
“방미통위, JTBC 재승인 심사 시기 검토,” Digital Daily, June 25, 2026; Mediaus, Sept. 3, 2026; Segye Ilbo, June 16, 2026
Ownership limits and the JTBC sale, Digital Daily, June 23, 2026; MTN, Sept. 1, 2026
Netflix Services Korea 2025 results, Money Today, April 23, 2026; broadcaster results, Media Today, April 7, 2026; Tving and Wavve, Money Today, April 19 and Newstomato, April 14, 2026; Digital Daily, Aug. 6, 2026
KCMC, 2025 broadcasters’ financial disclosure (June 19, 2026), 2025 Broadcasting Media Usage Survey (Dec. 30, 2025), pay-TV subscriber count (May 29, 2026)
“Streaming services register as value-added telecommunications providers,” Newstomato, Aug. 4, 2026; Telecommunications Business Act Art. 22; Audiovisual Media Services Act bill, ZDNet Korea, June 18, 2026
Notes on attribution
Quotation marks indicate statements as reported; unquoted passages summarize reporting. Material taken from another outlet’s reporting is marked as such.
Currency converted at 1 USD = 1,344 KRW (as of Sept. 5, 2026).
Korean broadcast revenue is compiled in two separate series. The 2021-2024 figures in the chart come from the broadcasting industry survey; the 2025 figure in the text (18.6495 trillion won) comes from the broadcasters’ financial disclosure. They are not mixed.
The motion runs 46 pages per the Los Angeles Times and RBR; the PDF posted by Policyband is labeled 56 pages.
Daniel Suhr, president of the Center for American Rights, filed the petition to deny and also writes on licence-revocation precedent; he is an interested party.
As of Sept. 6, 2026, the following had not been disclosed: individual licence expiry dates for the eight stations; what in Disney’s responses was deficient; a full list of early-renewal call-ins since 1972; the status of the Comcast and NBCUniversal inquiry; decisions in MB Dockets 26-131 and 26-124; the JTBC sale adviser, bidders and stake size; the Eugene ENT appellate schedule; whether the YTN item returns to the KCMC’s next session; and the JTBC relicensing date.
On the JTBC bonds, a criminal complaint has been announced by counsel for the bondholders; whether one has been filed could not be confirmed.