Brendan Carr Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The Federal Communications Commission and its outspoken commissioner Brendan Carr is taking aim at daytime talk shows like ABC's The View and late night shows like NBC's Tonight Show. The FCC said Wednesday that it is clarifying its guidance on its political equal time rules, a change that could end longstanding exemptions for interviews with politicians on shows like The View, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show and the Late Show. Many of those shows, most notably The View, frequently include guests from the world of politics. Related Stories TV Meghan McCain Calls Out Marjorie Taylor Greene for Trying to Audition for 'The View' Business FCC Chair Deflects Responsibility on Kimmel, Says Agency Is Not Independent In general, talk shows have qualified for the equal opportunities exemption as a bona fide news interview, ever since the FCC granted an exemption to Jay Leno's Tonight Show in 1996. That is now changing. "Importantly, the FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption," the FCC wrote. "Moreover, a program that is motivated by partisan purposes, for example, would not be entitled to an exemption under longstanding FCC precedent." The View is seen as being a partisan program under that guidance, though it and other shows impacted may still file with the FCC to be considered for an exemption. Under the FCC's equal time rule, stations must offer comparable time and placement to rival candidates regardless of political affiliation, though the burden isn't on broadcasters to do so. When free time is provided to a candidate, a record is placed in the station's political file. Other candidates can then submit an equal opportunities request. There are exceptions to the rule. News interviews have long been exempted from the requirement, but the FCC under Carr is pursuing a novel argument that late night and daytime talk shows are biased to the extent that shouldn't qualify. Among the factors in considering the carveout is newsworthiness and whether the program is intended to serve a partisan purpose. The agency said it's concerned the entertainment industry took the 1996 decision to mean that all late night and day time shows are exempted. "This is not the case," the guidance reads. In a statement, Anna Gomez, the lone Democrat on the FCC, said the move represents an "escalation in this FCC's ongoing campaign to censor and control speech." She added, "Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize, or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation. Broadcast stations have a constitutional right to carry newsworthy content, even when that content is critical of those in power." Networks take equal time rules seriously. In 2024, when Vice President Kamala Harris appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch, NBC scrambled to give President Trump equal time, giving his campaign commercial slots during a NASCAR race and Sunday Night Football. FCC filings suggest that it also gave time to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Carr has made no secret of his desire to rein in both network late night shows, which conservatives and President Trump view as not aligned politically, and daytime talk shows like The View. Cable news programs like those on CNN, MS NOW and Fox News are not subject to FCC rules. Carr has weighed in on comments made by Jimmy Kimmel (Kimmel's show was briefly suspended by ABC a few days after Carr's comments), and last September suggested that The View is running afoul of equal opportunity rules. With the midterm elections coming up this year, the clarification could force daytime or late night shows to carefully consider their bookings, if it includes a politician who is running for office. While the show would necessarily have to give their opponent equal time on the same program, the network may have to give free commercial time elsewhere. "This important new action puts Hollywood hosts and network bigwigs on notice - they can no longer prop up Democratic candidates with free airtime while shutting out Republicans," says Daniel Shur, president of the legal advocacy group Center for American Rights. Suhr is among the legal architects of Carr's plan to fight media bias. In a letter to the FCC last year, he wrote that "network late-night shows are relentlessly left-wing" and that "Democrats' appearances on late-night shows are a cornerstone of the D.C.-Hollywood axis." He later filed a complaint with the agency, arguing that Kimmel violates FCC rules by constantly hosting Democratic candidates while ignoring Republicans. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR