ABC is once again fighting back against the FCC’s targeting of The View. This time, the network has issued an urgent call for audiences of the daytime talk show to weigh in with their thoughts on the agency’s decision to question whether the show’s political interviews are exempt from the equal time rule and potentially affect the broadcast licensing renewal.
Beginning Monday (June 22), the network is running a TV spot that invites viewer comments to the FCC with the message, “The View has welcomed your favorite guests for nearly 30 years. Now the FCC wants to control who is allowed to appear on the show. Tell the FCC to let the viewers decide. You have until July 6th.”
The ad also features a QR code linking to the FCC’s comments portal, which reads, “FCC’s Media Bureau Seeks Comment on Petition by Disney’s ABC Asking the FCC to Declare that The View Qualifies as a Bona Fide News Interview Program and Thus is Exempt from the Statutory Equal Opportunities Requirements.”
The FCC’s opening is in response to Disney’s petition for the administration to formally recognize The View as a bona fide news interview program, which would make it exempt from the agency’s rule that it cannot interview political candidates without giving equal time to their rivals in a given election.
The FCC’s commissioner, Brendan Carr, who was appointed by Donald Trump, has been cracking down on The View in Trump’s second administration, and Disney filed its discharge petition in May, writing, “The Commission’s order to file this Petition for Declaratory Ruling is unprecedented, beyond the Commission’s authority, and counterproductive to the Commission’s stated goal of encouraging free speech and open political discussion. The Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to The View and more broadly.”
The network’s petition continued, “The View has been broadcasting under a bona fide news exemption granted to it more than 20 years ago, consistent with longstanding Commission interpretations designed to minimize the serious First Amendment problems inherent in the equal time regime. The View‘s exemption remains valid, and the constitutional infirmities in the equal time doctrine are even more pronounced today, when the broadcast airwaves account for a slice of the numerous media options through which Americans get their political information. Indeed, the marketplace of ideas has never been more robust, and people can hear virtually any brand of political commentary by listening to a podcast, watching cable, scrolling social media, or streaming on a phone, computer, or connected TV. The free flow of ideas flourishes on these non-broadcast platforms, even though the equal opportunities rule does not apply there.”
The filing came after indicated he was going after The View and formally issued new guidance about the equal time rule. On April 28, the administration also ordered Disney’s ABC to “file license renewals for all of their licensed TV stations within 30 days.” The challenge was said to be related to the FCC’s ongoing probe of Disney’s diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring initiatives.
Disney also issued a statement, saying, “We have received the Federal Communications Commission’s order initiating an accelerated review of the licenses held by ABC’s owned television stations. ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming.”
