While the rest of us were enjoying Christmas dinner, President-Elect Trump has been gearing up for a media war. After the case against ABC during the election cycle, Trump's new chairman of the FCCBrendan Carr has set his sights on The Walt Disney Company.
In a report from CNN News, it was revealed that Carr wrote a strongly-worded letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger, and highlighted the current trust issues between Americans and major news outlets, such as the Disney-owned ABC. While his approach was certainly a lot more formal than others that came before him, Disney might need to be on its guard.
White House VS. Mouse House
In the letter, Carr states that "Americans no longer trust the national news media to report fully, accurately, and fairly," which is certainly true to a great extent, and Disney's Mickey Mitts are far from clean. However, what has this writer's attention is how a potential media war could affect Disney's major money maker... streaming services.
CNN ends the report with the following, which might have Disney execs perking up their ears.
"He [Carr] also raises a concern about Disney prioritizing its global streaming services at the expense of local and freely accessible stations. Similar criticisms could theoretically be lodged against other major media companies."
Carr makes no secret about prioritizing local media news outlets, and Disney would certainly have a major upper hand if ABC or a similar outlet somehow became a Disney+ exclusive asset. Not everyone can afford the service, which would put many viewers and consumers in the dark.
As seen with the recent DirectTV blackout in September 2024, this wouldn't be the first time Disney has been under the heat from the FCC. With reports of them violating the good faith mandates, Trump's media appointees might use this as an excuse to keep Mickey on a short leash.
This could mean that those in power could alter how Disney+ functions, which poses a major threat to many Disney fans. Regardless of political affiliation, changes are coming, and we will soon have to accept them come January 20, 2025.
At the time of writing, this might be pure speculation, but it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. From what we can interpret thus far, it seems like Carr might be ready to tussle with the mouse.
While this is still in the early stages, something is definitely in the works. Disney might need to mind their Ps and Qs going forward.