FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s crackdown on late-night TV shows no signs of slowing down.
In the Federal Communications Commission’s January press conference, Carr, 48, whom late-night host Jimmy Kimmel referred to as Trump’s “little ferret in the FCC,” addressed the equal opportunity measure that the Commission rereleased earlier this month.
“If you’re fake news, you’re not going to qualify as the bona fide news exception,” Carr declared.
With the “bona fide news” exception, Carr is referencing an FCC-issued public notice reiterating broadcasters’ obligation to provide political candidates with equal opportunities to appear on their shows.
In 2006, the Tonight Show host Jay Leno was sued unsuccessfully by the opposing political candidate, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The incident set a long-term precedent of late-night shows as “bona fide news.”
In his X post releasing the public notice, Carr took direct aim at late-night hosts.
“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,“ Carr wrote. ”Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities."
In Thursday’s press conference, Carr doubled down on his stance.
“Congress was clear that the FCC has a rule with respect to bona fide news, because otherwise I think the statutory history is clear. They were worried that TV programmers would broadly take advantage of trying to claim they were bona fide news when they weren’t,” Carr said.
Carr’s statements have been viewed as personal slights by late-night hosts who have typically been exempt, particularly Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, who have previously been the subject of Carr’s attacks.
In September, Kimmel, 58, was suspended for three days after Carr threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcasting rights following a controversial monologue joke about Charlie Kirk. Afterwards, Carr suggested that he might also take aim at the daytime talk show The View.
After last week’s release, Kimmel explained the ruling in his monologue and soberly pleaded for his viewers’ help.
“We are once again getting threatened by the FCC...I might need your help again,” Kimmel said. “I guess whatever happens, I want to just point it out because it is another example of this administration trying to squash anyone who doesn’t support them by following the rules.”
While Carr’s statements outline a bleak future for late-night and daytime talk shows, vocal Carr contrarian FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez expressed her opposition to the Commission’s new directives.
“As if there was any doubt, the last few weeks have shown that this FCC is no longer independent, and it is no longer primarily interested in acting in the interests of consumers. The FCC is now a political arm of this administration,” Gomez declared.
The Democratic commissioner had one message for broadcasters.
“Do not be cowed into stopping your independent reporting of what is happening to this country. The guidance issued recently by the FCC was a threat, but it did not change much,” she concluded.
