Exclusive: FCC singled out ABC13 over James Talarico interview, lawsuit says – Houston Chronicle

Exclusive: FCC singled out ABC13 over James Talarico interview, lawsuit says  Houston Chronicle

When ABC took the rare step of suing the Federal Communications Commission over the early review of its broadcast licenses, it thrust Houston's ABC affiliate, KTRK/ABC13, into the spotlight. In its lawsuit, filed in federal court last Tuesday, the TV giant says the Trump Administration’s review of eight ABC-owned local news stations is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. ABC also says the FCC repeatedly singled out ABC13 as part of its probe, including demanding thousands of pages of documents on the local station's hiring practices and internal communications. The FCC scrutinized activities at ABC13 far beyond any other ABC-owned station, according to the lawsuit. The FCC’s scrutiny has included ABC13’s decision to air an interview from “The View” with State Rep.

James Talarico, a Democrat running for Senate in Texas against Republican Ken Paxton. “It is noteworthy that many stations in KTRK’s market aired interviews with select candidates prior to the recent primary election without provoking any apparent interest or inquiries from the Commission,” ABC13 wrote in a May FCC filing defending its decision to air the interview. KTRK News Director Keaton Fuchs referred questions to a spokesperson for ABC’s parent company, Disney, who declined to comment. In FCC filings this spring, ABC13 claimed to be the leading station by audience share in the Houston media market. "Suing the government