Deadline reported that ABC is firing back against the Federal Communications Commission and its chairman’s investigation into The View, claiming that the agency’s movements towards imposing restrictions on political candidate appearances have heavy implications on broadcasters First Amendment rights. The network filed for a clarification (petition for declaratory ruling) with the agency and its equal time rule, which is an extension of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s initial investigation into The View after it hosted Texan and Democratic U.S. Senate Candidate James Talarico as a guest.
The 52-page filing with the FCC from ABC specifically noted that “some may dislike certain–or even most–of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows. Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views.”
Continued, from Deadline and detailed in the ABC filing:
“The danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed. In fact, while the Commission now questions The View’s decades-long exemption, it has not expressed any inclination to apply a similar interpretation of the equal opportunities rule to other broadcasters, including the many voices–conservative and liberal–on broadcast radio.”
The equal time rule, as outlined by the FCC, is a requirement of broadcasters featuring political candidates to offer equivalent access to broadcast opportunities to competing political candidates upon request, under the concern of potential media influence in elections through selective exclusion. Previously under an exception, daytime and late-night talk shows such as The View had historically booked candidates for interviews as opposed to news coverage. However, per Deadline, the FCC under Carr and the current administration have taken new levels of scrutiny towards such programing, warning that talk shows should not assume that they fall under the exemption.
In the moves surrounding the equal time investigations, it was pointed out by Deadline that Carr has refrained from speaking of radio broadcasters who often feature Republican candidates for office, contrary to his targeting of daytime and late-night talk shows; While the equal time rule applies to television and radio, the rule (and subsequently FCC authority) does not extend to streaming, cable, and satellite.
The ABC filing with the FCC highlights several contributing factors towards its petition for declaratory ruling on these new regulations; Particularly, the January new guidance announcement by the FCC’s media bureau for broadcasters featuring political candidates that pointed out shows like The View and Jimmy Kimmel who could be held liable for equal time. Although, it was argued by ABC that the requirement of providing universal equal time is “infeasible,” citing California’s 60-candidate gubernatorial primary and that broadcasters are only required to provide equal time for rival campaigns upon request – it is also not required to offer it on the exact show, only to offer a comparable opportunity for exposure.
The FCC inquired via letter to KTRK-TV in Houston (owned and operated by ABC), concerning Talarico’s February 2 appearance on The View, about why there was no paperwork filed about the candidate’s appearance, which is required under the equal time rule. The station argued that the rule exemption applied in their case, but the FCC required them to file a petition for a declaratory ruling. Resulting from this, ABC’s filing alleged the agency’s action as unprecedented with the backing of a 2002 ruling that confirmed The View was exempt.
The network alleged in its filing that the agency was singling ABC out to tangle it in regulatory red tape over disfavored speech, pointing out the disparity in treatment of broadcasters and writing that “as a broad array of voices, including many conservatives, have recognized, if the government is allowed to discriminate on the basis of a viewpoint in a Republican administration, there is little preventing it from doing so when the Democrats are in charge.”
This incident is part of a longer, larger timeline of the FCC contending with media in recent months; After the FCC announced revisions of its content standards according to the needs of modern audiences, several shows and companies have found themselves under the unprecedented scrutiny of the agency. ABC and its parent company Disney have been issued directive to file for early station license renewal for all eight of its broadcast stations under the network’s diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which was widely considered an unusual move with little warranted reasoning. It came within short succession of President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, along with their supporters, calling for Kimmel to be fired for joke he made just days before the shooting at the 2026 White House Correspondents Dinner.
ABC’s filing included evidence provided as part of the agency’s DEI investigation – from Deadline, more than 10,000 pages of documents were provided while noting the early license renewal order. They also hinted at the possibility of lawsuit filings under the pretense that the FCC’s new regulatory actions and investigations were “major shifts in policy and practice” that “requires the action of the full commission and the oversight of the courts.”
The network emphasized the critical point of the recent debate, per Deadline, concluding that such reframes of broadcasters’ interactions with political candidates under the First Amendment of the Constitution protecting speech and news from overreach. ABC highlighted the news-nature of The View and the number of Republicans who had declined invitations to be on the show like their opposing counterparts.
From Deadline, FCC member Anna Gomez and legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Will Creely both responded positively to broadcast networks pushing back against the commission’s probes.