After Jimmy Kimmel’s Suspension, FCC Chair Takes Aim at The View

ABC’s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has prompted accusations of censorship by the Trump Administration after the decision appeared to have been influenced by FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who said that “licensed broadcasters” should “push back” and refuse to air Kimmel’s show lest they face “the possibility of fines or license revocations from the FCC.” Democratic lawmakers have criticized the Trump Administration’s apparent pressuring of ABC, calling for Carr’s dismissal and introducing a bill to strengthen free speech protections. But the Administration only appears more emboldened to pursue what experts have described as a media suppression strategy, and Carr may already have his next target. President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that his Administration could punish TV networks for giving him “bad press,” after weeks of calling for ABC and NBC News’ broadcasting licenses to be revoked—though he may not have the authority to do so. But Carr suggested a more technical approach to needle Trump’s media annoyances, saying in a Thursday episode of The Scott Jennings Podcast that the commission may review whether ABC’s The View should be subject to what’s known as the equal time rule. “I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View, and some of these other 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 said. Carr’s comments come amid calls from Republicans and far-right activists for a crackdown on the left and as people across the country have been fired or faced workplace sanctions over social media posts related to Kirk. Jennings had asked Carr about other ABC programs that “run afoul” of the public interest rule, a legal standard requiring broadcasters to serve the “public interest, convenience, and necessity,” specifically citing The View.  “A lot of people think there are other shows on ABC that maybe run afoul of this more than Jimmy Kimmel, I’m thinking specifically of The View,” Jennings asked. “Are they doing what Kimmel did Monday night and is it even worse on those programs?” The View hosts notably did not discuss Kimmel’s suspension on Thursday and had previously condemned the killing of Kirk and political violence more broadly. Earlier this year, the White House threatened that The View was next in line to be cancelled after CBS’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, after The View co-host Joy Behar criticized Trump for accusing former President Barack Obama of treason. Behar referenced the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol and suggested that Trump was jealous of Obama. At the time, the panelists also did not mention the White House’s threat against the show. What is the ‘equal time’ rule? The equal time or equal opportunity rule is a federal rule under the Communications Act of 1934 that requires broadcasters to give political candidates equal time or opportunity as each other. For example, radio or television stations that sell air time to one candidate must offer to sell the same amount of time to every other candidate running for that office. In 1959, Congress amended the act to exempt bona fide newscasts, news interviews, documentaries, and on-the-spot coverage of a news event. In 1960, Congress suspended the equal time rule to allow for coverage of the Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates, which were not recognized by the FCC at the time as meeting one of the four exemptions. In 1975, the FCC ruled that debates were included as on-the-spot coverage of a news event, which was later affirmed by the Supreme Court that broadcasters need not give candidates equal air time in a debate. The FCC does have the power, under the 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act, to revoke a broadcaster’s license for “willful or repeated failure” to abide by the equal time rule. But the FCC has also over time provided more exemptions to news entertainment programs that include segments, interviews, or discussions considered bona fide news. In 1987, the FCC also abolished the fairness doctrine, which required broadcasters to provide differing viewpoints when covering issues of public importance. “Over the years the FCC has developed a body of case law that has suggested that mostly late-night shows … are bona fide news programs,” Carr said. “And so potentially I would assume you could make the argument that The View is a bona fide news show, but I’m not so sure about that.” Carr criticized NBC’s Saturday Night Live last year for featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris before the 2024 election, prompting the network to give Trump airtime to directly address voters after a Nascar race. NBC was also required to give rival GOP candidates airtime after Trump hosted SNL in 2015.If the FCC considers The View no longer exempt from the equal time rule, it could have a wider impact on talk shows on both TV and radio more broadly, potentially affecting a forum that in actuality has become dominated by conservatives.