Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has taken aim at late-night talk shows and their daytime counterparts months after targeting host Jimmy Kimmel.
The FCC issued new regulatory guidance on Wednesday, reminding broadcast networks of their obligation to provide political candidates with equal opportunities.
Carr shared the notice on X, writing, “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. Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”
The notice referenced section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934, stating that “if a broadcast station permits any legally qualified candidate for public office to use its facilities, it shall provide an equal opportunity to all other legally qualified candidates for that office.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the FCC for comment.
It isn’t incumbent upon broadcasters to ensure other candidates receive comparable air time, The Hollywood Reporter notes. Rather, candidates can submit an equal opportunities request to networks that have featured their opponents.
Typically, news programs have been exempt, but Carr is now arguing that the guidance applies to shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live! as well as daytime talk shows like The View because of their hyper-partisan nature.
Carr has been contemplating the issue for some time. After he threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcasting license last September in response to a comment made by Kimmel which saw his show temporarily taken off the air, Carr hinted that The View could be next in an interview with Scott Jennings.
“I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View and some of the programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place,” Carr told Jennings during an appearance on Jennings’ podcast.
The outspoken hosts of The View have previously faced scrutiny for their criticisms of the Trump White House, with Disney CEO Bob Iger reportedly telling them to "tone down" their political rhetoric following the 2024 presidential election.
Undeterred by what they viewed as a “silly” request, the show’s hosts decided they would continue to “keep doing their own thing.” One such host, Whoopi Goldberg, said on Wednesday’s program that Congress should invoke the 25th Amendment and oust President Donald Trump.
Later in the day, on Wednesday night’s episode of his show, Jimmy Kimmel responded to the fresh attacks from the FCC, telling viewers, “I might need your help again.”
“The president took time from 6000 miles away to continue his war on talk shows,” Kimmel said. “He shared this story about how his minions at the FCC are planning to make it difficult for shows like ours and The View to interview politicians they don’t align with. For real, we are once again getting threatened by the FCC. I might need your help again.”
In a statement shared to social media, Anna Gomez, the only Democratic commissioner on the FCC, wrote that while “Nothing has fundamentally changed with respect to our political broadcasting rules”, the notice “does represent an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor & control speech.”
“Broadcast stations have a constitutional right to carry newsworthy content, even when that content is critical of those in power. That does not change today, it will not change tomorrow and it will not change simply because of this Administration’s desire to silence its critics.”
