FCC puts late-night hosts and 'The View' on notice, demands equal airtime for GOP guests

WASHINGTON, DC: The Federal Communications Commission is putting partisan daytime and late-night talk shows on notice, warning that networks must play fair when it comes to political candidates or risk running afoul of federal law. 

In guidance issued Wednesday, the FCC reminded the three major broadcast networks of their obligation to follow the 'statutory equal opportunities requirement' under the Communications Act of 1934. The rule applies broadly to their programming, 'including their airing of late-night and daytime talk shows.' 

FCC says the ‘news’ excuse won’t fly

At the heart of the FCC’s warning is Section 315 of the Communications Act. “Under Section 315, 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 FCC wrote in a press release.

For decades, broadcasters have leaned on a so-called 'bona fide' news exemption, which allows genuine news programming to interview candidates without triggering equal-time requirements for their opponents. But the FCC says that shield may not apply to today’s talk shows, especially those with an obvious political slant.

The agency said it 'has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late-night or daytime television talk show program on the air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption.'

“Moreover, a program that is motivated by partisan purposes, for example, would not be entitled to an exemption under longstanding FCC precedent,” the FCC stated. “Any program or station that wishes to obtain formal assurance that the equal opportunities requirement does not apply (in whole or in part) is encouraged to promptly file a petition for declaratory ruling that satisfies the statutory requirements for a bona fide news exemption.”

FCC Chair Brendan Carr made the point even more bluntly in a post on X.

“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,” Carr wrote. “Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”

Liberal talk shows in the FCC's crosshairs

The FCC’s guidance is likely to send shivers through some of television’s most reliably liberal studios, particularly ABC’s daytime juggernaut 'The View' and its late-night cousin 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'

NBC’s 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' and CBS’s 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' are also squarely in the frame. Colbert’s show has been canceled but will remain on the air until May.

The move follows growing backlash over guest imbalances on these programs, now backed by fresh data. A study conducted last month by the Media Research Center found that 'The View' featured 128 liberal guests throughout 2025, while inviting just two conservatives.

Those two exceptions, according to the study, were actress Cheryl Hines, the wife of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who later became an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump.

Late night didn’t fare any better in the breakdown. For years, liberal hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers 'rolled out the red carpet for Team Blue,' the Media Research Center found. While dozens of Democrats appeared on their programs last year, zero Republicans were given the same platform.

Lone Democratic commissioner blasts ‘campaign to censor’

However, not everyone at the FCC is on board. The Commission’s sole Democrat, Anna Gomez, pushed back against the new guidance, warning it could chill free expression and editorial judgment.

“For decades, the Commission has recognized that bona fide news interviews, late-night programs, and daytime news shows are entitled to editorial discretion based on newsworthiness, not political favoritism,” Gomez said. “This announcement, therefore, does not change the law, but it does represent an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech.”

She also framed the issue as a First Amendment fight, cautioning broadcasters not to blink.

“The 1st Amendment does not yield to government intimidation,” Gomez added. “Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize, or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.