The Federal Communications Commission plans to investigate whether ABC’s “The View” violated the agency’s equal time rules after Democratic Texas Rep. James Talarico appeared on the daytime talk show, Reuters reported.
Talarico is running for the party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate, a state Democrats haven’t won since 1994. His appearance comes after Talarico’s primary challenger, Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett, appeared on “The View” in January.
Representatives for the FCC did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment, while ABC and “The View” declined to comment.
Congress enacted protections under the Communications Act of 1934
Ensure equal access to broadcast station facilities for legally qualified candidates for public office, regardless of political affiliation. This rule applies to individuals who have publicly declared their intention to run for public office and who are qualified under applicable state or federal law to hold the office sought.
In 2006, the FCC determined that “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” qualified for an exemption from the rule as “genuine news interviews” — the first time such an exemption had been applied to a late-night talk show. But in January, the FCC issued new guidance stating that late-night and daytime talk shows were not eligible for the bona fide news exemption.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr previously threatened in September to investigate “The View” for possible violations of equal time rules.
“I think you could say ‘The View’ is a real news show, but I’m not so sure about that,” Carr said Thursday. “I think it’s worthwhile for the FCC to investigate whether The View and some of what you have programs still qualify as bona fide news programs and thus not subject to the equal opportunity regime enacted by Congress.”
In October, “The View” hosts had previously said they would like to have more Republican guests on the show, but invitations have been declined, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. The group also said they want Ted Cruz to appear again (his 2022 appearance was interrupted by protesters), while Chris Christie also appears regularly on the show.
Marjorie Taylor Greene also appeared on “The View” in January, which saw a huge ratings boost.
In addition to “The View,” Carr has previously criticized ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, who was temporarily suspended for his comments about the Charlie Kirk assassination after threatening to take action against the late-night show, sparking bipartisan criticism.
After learning of the FCC’s new guidance, Kimmel returned to the ABC airwaves, telling viewers “I may need your help again.”
“This is no longer the ’50s… when there were three major networks. Now we have cable, streaming, satellite, podcasts, social media. There are thousands of channels now. Broadcast TV used to be 100 percent of the viewership. Now, it’s about 20 percent,” Kimmel explained. “There are a lot of channels, some of which offer Trump programming 24/7: Fox News, Newsmax, One America New, Real America’s Voice. None of them are required to offer equal time, but we do because we use public airlines.”
In response to Kimmel’s question, Kahl said it would ultimately be up to Congress to decide whether to expand the rule to other forms of distribution.
“If you don’t want to abide by the public interest standard on your show now, there are lots of other ways you can distribute it, whether it’s a podcast, a cable channel or a streaming service,” Carr continued. “If you want the unique privilege of distribution on a type of broadcast television, then we really should make sure that you actually comply with the rules of that distribution mechanism.”
He added that the statutory history of the truthful news exemption is clear and that Congress is “concerned that television producers will broadly exploit the opportunity to try to claim to be truthful news when in fact it is not.”
“But if you’re fake news, you don’t qualify for the real news exception,” Carr said.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Ana Gomez said the investigation into “The View” was “government intimidation, not a legitimate investigation.”
“Like so many other so-called ‘investigations’ before it, the FCC will announce
“We conducted an investigation but never conducted an investigation, reached a conclusion, or took any meaningful action,” she said. “The real intent was to use the FCC’s regulators to intimidate critics of this administration and suppress protected speech. That’s not how a free society works.” “
“The First Amendment protects the right of daytime and late-night programs to report on newsworthy issues and express opinions without government interference,” she continued. “I urge the broadcaster and its parent network to stand firm against these baseless attacks and continue to exercise their constitutional rights without fear or favor.”
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