WASHINGTON—NRB has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requesting that the regulator investigate ABC Television regarding controversial remarks made on the April 23, 2026 national broadcast of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that the NRB said, “raise serious concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence.”

The broadcast was presented as a parody of the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The actual dinner, which occurred two days later, was interrupted when a gunman attempted to attack President Trump and other government officials.

During the parody, Kimmel quipped, “our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have the glow of an expectant widow.”

In the complaint the NRB noted that the incident represents the third attempted attack on the President’s life in the current period and follows a series of other violent acts, including high‑profile political assassinations and multiple school shootings across the country.

“NRB respectfully suggests that Mr. Kimmel’s statement could well be interpreted as an instigation of violence against the life of the President of the United States,” the FCC filing said. “Incitements to kill or inflict bodily harm on the President of the United States are serious felonies.”

Michael Farris, NRB general counsel, issued a separate statement saying that “while the FCC is bound by the First Amendment of the Constitution and federal law (47 U.S.C. § 326) to respect freedom of speech, Supreme Court precedent makes clear that speech which incites violence is not protected. Under Brandenburg v. Ohio speech loses constitutional protection when it encourages lawless action, is intended to produce such action, and is likely to result in imminent harm.”

The complaint asks the FCC to “investigate and sanction, as warranted by evidence discovered thereby, ABC Television” but does not cite any specific rules that the broadcast may have violated.

Nor does it say whether the FCC should use the incident to investigate Disney’s TV station licenses or if the regulator should impose fines for the content of the program. In addition, it did not supply any specific link between Kimmel's comments and the opinions, statements or motivation of the man who attacked the Correspondents' Dinner.

The complaint comes at a time when the FCC is already investigating The Walt Disney company for DEI practices. On April 27, the regulator significantly escalated that investigation by issuing an order for Disney to file for an early renewal of the ABC-owned TV station licenses.

Historically, it is unusual for the FCC to open up an early renewal process and TV Tech is unaware of it doing so in the case of a network-owned station.

In a statement, NRB president and CEO Troy A. Miller said “We should be relieved that lives were spared Saturday evening; but relief can’t become complacency. We’re seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn’t appear overnight. When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable. National platforms carry real weight, and with that comes responsibility. That’s why this warranted action.”

WASHINGTON—Approximately 150 randomly selected TV and radio stations are about to learn that they are part of the Federal Communication Commission’s next EEO audit.

Each year, the Enforcement Bureau goes about auditing approximately 5% of all U.S. broadcast licensees. This is the second set of equal employment opportunity audits in 2022.

The listed stations have until Oct. 7 to upload their responses. Here’s a link to the list and announcement.

If yours is on the list, keep in mind that — unlike in years past — the bureau is no longer sending individual letters notifying licensees of the completion of their response. If questions arise during the audit, bureau staff will contact you directly.

The audit includes all stations in the same station employment unit that are commonly owned, in the same market with shared employees. If the unit has fewer than five full-time employees, licensees must list them, identified by their job title, list the number of hours each is regularly assigned to work per week, and list any pending or resolved complaints made filed during the unit’s current license term.

If a unit of stations employs five or more full-time employees, the licensee must provide significantly more information. That includes copies of recent EEO public file reports, including details on the full-time positions that have been filled and dated copies of communications announcing the positions; information on the number of interviews conducted; dated documentation showing recruitment initiatives; any pending or resolved complaints; and information about the individuals responsible for implementing the unit’s EEO policies, among other items.

The announcement letter includes guidance about extension requests and what to do if you submitted an audit in 2020 or 2021.

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World. 

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters can now remove one more item from their FCC to do list.

A posting in the Federal Register on February 8 made it official: Broadcasters no longer have to physically post and maintain copies of their licenses and other related information. It was back in late 2018 that the Federal Communications Commission formally adopted a Report and Order that eliminated the requirement that broadcasters post broadcast licenses at a physical location.

At the time, the commission said that the goal was to advance the commission’s efforts in modernizing media rules and removing unnecessary regulatory burdens.

The original decision to require the posting of broadcast licenses, which predated the establishment of the FCC, was most likely to ensure that information regarding station authorizations, ownership and contact information was available and accessible to the commission and public, the commission said.

Earlier rules also required all LPTV, translator and booster stations to post certain information—such as the station’s call sign, licensee contact info and location of station record—at the transmitter site. Although LPTV, translator and booster stations were not required to maintain public inspection files, they had to post contact information of key personnel. In its December 2018 ruling, the commission said it found “no continued need for broadcasters to separately identify a local representative or a custodian of station records and display such information.”

Myriad broadcasters were vocal in their assertion that such record keeping was no longer necessary. In written comments on the issue published in the ECFS database, commenters said information about broadcast licenses is now widely available online on numerous FCC databases. The commission also said that no commenter provided any justification for continuing to require broadcasters to post or maintain at specific locations a physical copy of their licenses, authorizations, or general or local contact information.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has voted on a Report and Order (a final vote) on eliminating requirements that broadcasters, TV and radio, keep copies of their licenses and related info in specific physical locations, like transmitter sites.

That came in a notice that the item had been deleted from the agenda for the Dec. 12 public meeting because it had already been voted by the commissioners in advance of the meeting. Such early votes are generally for noncontroversial items, which this one was.

It is the latest whack of a regulatory weed in an ongoing effort by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to eliminate what he and a majority of commissioners conclude are outdated or obsolete rules.

The move was unopposed by commenters in the proceeding and reflects the fact that licensing info is available online in FCC databases.

WASHINGTON—Blasting NBC and some of its recent report as “fake news,” President Donald Trump used Twitter to query whether or not it was appropriate to challenge NBC’s broadcast license. The tweet came after NBC News released a story asserting that the president wanted to increase the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

Networks are not licensed by the FCC, though NBC’s owned TV stations are. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has promised in the past to Congress that he would not penalize free speech “even if requested by the administration.”

NAB issued a response to the president's tweet from NAB CEO and President Gordon Smith: “The founders of our nation set as a cornerstone of our democracy the First Amendment, forever enshrining and protecting freedom of the press. It is contrary to this fundamental right for any government official to threaten the revocation of an FCC license simply because of a disagreement with the reporting journalist.”

Former FCC Commissioner and Common Cause Special Advisor Michael Copps released this statement in response: "This madcap threat, if pursued, would be blatant and unacceptable intervention in the decisions of an independent agency. The law does not countenance such interference. President Trump might be happier as emperor, but I think the American people would strip him of his clothes on this issue. Additionally, it's not just NBC stations that will find this threat chilling, but also smaller independent stations around the country who might lack the resources to fight back." 

Read B&C's story here.