FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency was “taking enforcement action against ABC’s content” landscape After the show, U.S. Senate Democratic candidate James Talarico appeared as a guest.
“We’re looking at it,” Carr told reporters on Wednesday, declining to give specifics. Fox News reported earlier this month that landscape is being investigated for possible breaches of the “equal time rule”, which requires broadcasters airing a candidate to provide air time to rivals upon request.
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ABC has yet to comment. The show also featured one of Talarico’s Democratic primary opponents, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, as a guest, but did not
Carr’s comments came on the heels of Stephen Colbert’s show on Monday, when the host said CBS lawyers refused to air an interview with Talarico for fear of triggering equal time rules.
CBS disputed Colbert’s claims, saying he was not barred from appearing on Talarico but “obtained legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC’s equal time rules for the other two candidates.” On Tuesday’s show, Colbert pushed back on CBS’ statement, saying network lawyers had reviewed what he said on the show the night before. The interview is posted on YouTube and is not regulated by the FCC.
Talk shows have previously assumed that their interviews were exempt from the “equal time rule” that exempts “bona fide” journalism. Content such as news broadcasts and coverage of news events are already excluded, and the FCC has confirmed in the past that talk shows are also excluded from the rule.
But the FCC under Carr last month issued guidance warning talk shows, such as landscape, colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live It should not be assumed that they are exempt when they feature political candidates. Instead, the FCC recommends that these programs consult with the agency whether this is the case.
The Colbert affair became a major political and media story on Tuesday, raising questions about whether CBS was killing a candidate to try to stay in the Trump administration’s favor. Still, Carr said he was “extremely happy. I think it was one of the most fun days I’ve ever had on the job, watching how the hilarity of this story unfolded.”
He added, “Listen, anyone who isn’t suffering from a late-stage case of Trump Derangement Syndrome could immediately see yesterday the exact storyline and how it was going to play out. You had a Democratic candidate who understands how the news media works, and he used all of your previous ideas to run a scam, obviously to raise money and get clicks, and the news media was directly involved.”
Carr cited a statement from CBS saying Colbert was not banned from airing Talarico’s interview. “There is no censorship here at all,” he said. One option that could be considered, he said, is to have Talarico’s interview on the air, but not on television stations in Texas because the rules only apply in areas where candidates are on the ballot.
Talarico’s campaign reported Wednesday that the group has raised a record $2.5 million since the Colbert interview.
Talarico posted a link to the YouTube interview and the message on
Carr also blasted the news outlets that reported on the incident, saying it was “a perfect example of why the American people trust gas station sushi more than the national news media. This was clearly an effort to get clicks and raise money, and you ate it up.”
In guidance last month on the equal time rule, the FCC said it would consider whether coverage of political candidates on talk shows is “for a partisan purpose” when considering whether a program is exempt.
When asked what that meant, Carr said political contributions by hosts to candidates could be one factor considered. Colbert has participated in political fundraisers, including for Joe Biden in 2020 and 2024, and Kimmel will headline an event for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee next month.
Carr also said the equal time rule applies to broadcast media, radio and television. Talk radio is dominated by right-wing voices like Sean Hannity and Hugh Hewitt, who also feature political candidates as guests.
He said TV talk shows were singled out because “programmers appear to have overread or misread some of the case law on equal time rules that apply to broadcast television.”
“We’ll ultimately look at whatever happens,” Carr said.
He said it was neither. landscape or The Late Show with Stephen Colbert The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been contacted for a ruling on whether it falls under the equal time exemption. But guidance issued by the FCC last month said the agency had not received any evidence that “the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show currently airing qualifies for a bona fide news exemption.”
Donald Trump has criticized late-night TV hosts and urged action from his appointee, Karl, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Ana Gomez, the committee’s lone Democrat, described the Colbert incident as another example of the FCC using its enforcement powers to punish broadcasters for speech the Trump administration doesn’t like.
“I do think threats are the focus, harassment is the focus, because if the commission does take action against these broadcasters, it won’t survive an appeal because what it’s doing violates the First Amendment,” she said. “So keeping everyone on their toes, forcing them to respond to agency inquiries — that’s all part of the ultimate goal of bringing these broadcasters to heel.”
She cited the FCC’s 2006 ruling: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno The host fell under the exemption when he interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was seeking re-election as governor of California. His Democratic challenger Phil Angelides sought equal time, leading the agency to speak out.
After 2024 saturday night live Just days before the election, NBC guest-starred with Kamala Harris and gave the Trump campaign equal time on sports programming the next day. Still, the FCC has not yet ruled on the complaint over Harris’ appearance, Gomez said.
“The threat, the environment, the fear, that’s what this administration is looking for because when you look at the equal time rule in action, it’s really not a big deal,” Gomez said. “So when we talk about these issues, let’s focus on the big picture of the landscape that this administration is seeing.”
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