ESPN’s agreement to acquire many of the NFL’s media assets could well open the door for the Trump administration to force Disney — which owns ESPN — to address alleged liberal and anti-MAGA bias at legacy broadcaster ABC News. 

Earlier this month, it was reported that ESPN reached a deal to acquire assets from NFL Media, including the NFL Network. The transaction will require a regulatory review, which the Athletic reports could take nine months to a year to complete. The transaction is hugely important to Disney as it is central to efforts by ESPN — once the crown jewel in Disney’s portfolio of companies — to reimagine itself for the streaming era.

But consummating the deal could present difficulties for Disney. The transaction — which is expected to require the approval of the FCC — might become a tortured ordeal similar to the review of Skydance Media’s $8.4 billion merger with Paramount Global, which owns CBS News. The Skydance deal seemed to be on hold as President Trump sued CBS over its editing of Vice President Kamala Harris’s October 2024 interview with “60 Minutes.” Just weeks after Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit, the Federal Communications Commission approved the deal.

Both Paramount and the FCC have said the Trump lawsuit and the merger were unrelated. However, Democrats and left-wing journalists said Paramount’s decision to settle would lead to more situations where the Trump administration appears to hold up deals until it can extract concessions. 

Prior to the FCC approving Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount, Skydance executives committed in writing to address longstanding accusations of liberal bias at CBS News: Skydance promised that CBS News would do fair reporting reflective of different views in the country, and that CBS News would hire an “ombudsman” to review content for bias.

Now, Disney may face another such dilemma, as Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his frustration with ABC News for its coverage of him.

This past weekend, Mr. Trump complained on Truth Social about a discussion segment on the program “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” which was moderated by ABC News’s chief White House correspondent, Jonathan Karl, the author of four anti-Trump books: “Betrayal,” “Front Row at the Trump Show,” “Tired of Wining,” and “Retribution.” During the segment, a former New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, a paid ABC News consultant, criticized Mr. Trump for politicizing criminal investigations.

Mr. Trump wrote on his social media platform, “Truth Social,” “I just watched Sloppy Chris Christie be interviewed on a ratings challenged ‘News’ Show, ‘This Week With George Slopadopolus,’ on ABC Fake News (By the way, what the ‘hell’ happened to Jonathan Karl’s hair? He looks absolutely terrible! It’s amazing what bad ratings, on a failed television show that was forced to pay me $16,000,000, can do to one’s appearance!). Can anyone believe anything that Sloppy Chris says?” 

An hour later, he reminded ABC News that it’s subject to government oversight, writing, “Despite a very high popularity and, according to many, among the greatest 8 months in Presidential History, ABC & NBC FAKE NEWS, two of the worst and most biased networks in history, give me 97% BAD STORIES. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND SHOULD, ACCORDING TO MANY, HAVE THEIR LICENSES REVOKED BY THE FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful, an actual threat to our Democracy!!!”

Since the November election, Disney has tried to improve relations with Mr. Trump after he was enraged by two ABC News personalities who moderated the one debate he had with Vice President Kamala Harris, David Muir and Linsey Davis. In December, as Mr. Trump pointed out in his Truth Social posting, Disney agreed to pay $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit from Mr. Trump regarding remarks made by an ABC News star, George Stephanopoulos, on “This Week.” 

In a March 2024 segment, Mr. Stephanopoulos falsely said Mr. Trump had been “found liable for rape.” Media reporters said the lawsuit was not winnable as they believed the president would have a difficult time showing Mr. Stephanopoulos acted with “actual malice,” the high bar needed in defamation cases involving public figures, when he made his offending statement. The settlement was seen as an attempt by Disney to extend an olive branch to the then-incoming Trump administration in the hopes of avoiding regulatory scrutiny. 

However, if executives hoped the settlement would keep Disney and its properties off the administration’s radar, it appears the payout did not accomplish that goal. In March, the Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, launched an investigation of Disney and ABC over their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Mr. Carr has said diversity policies could sink mergers. 

Furthermore, ABC News’s reliably anti-Trump reporters and analysts have filled the airwaves with criticism of the 47th president.

Mr. Trump appeared to threaten ABC News and Disney in May over the news broadcaster’s coverage of his decision to accept a luxury jet from Qatar to use as a temporary Air Force One. 

“Why doesn’t Chairman Bob Iger do something about ABC Fake News,” Mr. Trump said. “The wonderful country of Qatar, after agreeing to invest more than 1.4 Trillion Dollars in the United States of America, deserves much better than Misleading (Fake!) News. Everyone, including their lawyers, has been told that ABC must not say that Qatar is giving ME a FREE Boeing 747 Airplane, because they are not.”

The president said his lawyers warned ABC News against reporting that Qatar was giving him a jet for “free.”

ABC News fired a correspondent, Terry Moran, in June after the long-time employee called Mr. Trump and one of his top advisers, Stephen Miller, “world-class haters.”

Disney may face a multi-pronged approach to any potential pressure, as the FCC will have to review and approve the deal, as it involves content distribution rights. The deal is also expected to be reviewed by the Department of Justice due to competition concerns, which could take up to 12 months to complete. 

It is possible that the Federal Trade Commission, which also has a Trump-appointed chairman, Andrew Ferguson, could scrutinize the deal over concerns it would improperly consolidate power in the sports market. 

At the FCC, Mr. Carr told Fox News in July that there may be “issues” at ABC News and that there could be consequences for the network. His comments concerned another ABC News program, “The View,” which is a daily hour of anti-Trump rhetoric.

Mr. Carr has been a vocal critic of legacy broadcasters, telling PBS last month that he believes they need a “course-correction” as he said they should be promoting the “public interest,” and noted that “the American people [are] simply not trusting these news outlets.”

While the ESPN-NFL deal hangs in the balance, it remains to be seen whether the various federal agencies will exert their authority during the review process to force Disney to make changes at its various businesses on matters such as diversity policies or ensuring that they present a diverse range of viewpoints.

Mr. Carr has stated that Skydance’s commitment to end diversity policies across Paramount and produce unbiased journalism at CBS News was the key to the FCC approving its acquisition of Paramount. 

Disney did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.