US EditionFCC says US late-night, daytime talk shows must offer equal time for candidate interviews
The FCC warns that talk show political interviews may require equal time for opposing candidates, addressing potential partisan misuse of public airwaves ahead of elections.
- On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau issued a public notice clarifying equal-time rules for late-night and daytime talk-show interviews, applying only to broadcast television stations.
- The 2006 precedent that exempted Jay Leno's Schwarzenegger interview was a 2006 staff-level decision , but the Media Bureau said broadcasters wrongly treated it as a blanket exemption for talk shows.
- Section 315 requires licensed broadcast stations to provide comparable time and placement to rival candidates, file political file entries, and seek FCC Media Bureau petitions for declaratory ruling to confirm exemptions.
- With midterm elections approaching, broadcasters may re-evaluate bookings for political guests, and the FCC Media Bureau’s move could prompt more petitions and increased scrutiny this year.
- Anna Gomez criticized the FCC’s move as `an escalation in this FCC's ongoing campaign to censor and control speech`, while past incidents like Jimmy Kimmel's removal and NBC's equal-time responses underscore ongoing tensions.
57 Articles
57 Articles
Trump FCC Clamps Down on Late-Night and Daytime TV Bias.
PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) head Brendan Carr has demanded that late-night and daytime TV hosts give equal time to political candidates after accusations of anti-Republican and anti-Trump bias.WHO WAS INVOLVED: FCC Chair Brendan Carr, Jimmy Kimmel, Steven Colbert, Donald J. Trump, late-night and daytime TV hosts.WHEN & WHERE: Carr announced the move on X on Wednesday, January 21.KEY QUOTE: “For years, legac…
FCC says late-night and daytime talk shows must give candidates equal time
The 2026 mid-term elections are fast approaching and as candidates start to push harder to win votes, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set out new rules for candidate interviews. The agency now says any talk show, be they daytime or late-night, that hosts a political candidate must offer equal time to the opposing candidate. This effectively puts and end to an exemption they were given in 2006. Equal opportunities exemption ends I…
FCC puts liberal late-night and 'The View' on notice for equal time violations · American Wire News
Late-night talk shows and daytime’s “The View” are finally being put on notice over “equal opportunities” in guest line-ups. “For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as ‘bona fide news’ programs – even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes,” Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), wrote in a post on X Wednesday. “Today, the FCC reminded them of their obli…
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