Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has asked the public to weigh in on whether The View is exempt from the so-called equal time rule.
“Is The View a ‘bona fide news interview program’?” Carr asked on X Friday, referring to an exemption to the long-established “equal time rule.”
Earlier this month, Disney-owned ABC filed a petition arguing that The View, a daytime talk show hosted by the likes of Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, was a “bona fide news interview program.”
Now, the FCC has opened the debate by seeking public comment, where everyday Americans, industry groups or others with an interest in the matter can express their opinions.
The Independent has reached out to Disney and ABC for comment.
The “equal time rule” requires broadcast TV to allow all legitimate political candidates the same opportunities.
If a program has a Democratic candidate in a race on a primetime segment for a 15-minute interview, they must invite their Republican counterpart on for a similar slot.
The “bona fide” exemption allows broadcasters to have a political candidate on air, without giving the same opportunity to their opponents, if they are chosen “on their newsworthiness rather than on the intention to oppose or support a particular candidate,” the FCC explained in a notice about the public comment issued Friday.
The FCC announced in February that it had launched an investigation into The View, after the talk show interviewed James Talarico, a Texas candidate for the Senate who went on to win the Democratic primary election.
“Disney and The View have not established that that program is, in fact, bona fide news,” Carr told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham at the time. “We’ve started enforcement proceedings, taking a look at that.”
On a separate note, the FCC told ABC late last month that it must apply to renew its broadcast licenses by Thursday, despite it not being up for renewal for a couple of years.
The move came after ABC late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel joked about first lady Melania Trump having the glow of an “expectant widow.” But the FCC has suggested that the early renewal was related to an investigation into the company’s DEI practices.
Carr, who President Donald Trump appointed to lead the FCC, has gone after Kimmel and fellow comedian Stephen Colbert, both critics of the president, for what they have said on air.
ABC briefly suspended Kimmel’s late night show in September after Carr threatened to discipline the comedian over comments he made in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said at the time. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Colbert, who hosted the finale of the Late Show Thursday night after CBS decided to cancel it for what critics speculated were political reasons, had claimed in February that the network banned him for broadcasting an interview with Democrat Talarico. CBS had denied Colbert’s narrative of the events.
“CBS was very clear that Colbert could run the interview that he wanted with that political candidate,” Carr told Fox News’ Ingraham at the time.
“They just said, ‘you may have to comply with equal time,’ which would have meant potentially giving air time to Jasmine Crockett and another candidate. But instead of doing that, they claimed that they were victims,” he added.
