By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – Disney-owned ABC said on Friday the Trump administration’s efforts to declare its daytime talk show “The View” subject to federal equal time rules for political candidates are invalid and threaten the network’s free speech rights.
In February, the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating whether “The View” violated equal time rules for interviews with political candidates, after an appearance by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. The FCC said daytime and late-night TV talk shows are no longer considered “bona fide” news programs exempt from the rule.
The equal time rule, which dates back to the 1930s, requires entertainment programs on broadcast television to grant equal time to political candidates for the same office.
ABC, in a filing with the FCC made public on Friday, said the FCC’s actions go beyond its authority and “threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to ‘The View’ and more broadly.”
The filing is a sharp rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on broadcast networks. President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded the FCC strip ABC stations of their broadcast licenses.
“Governments are free to criticize private speech, but not to compel or suppress it,” ABC said. “What is newsworthy to today’s FCC may not be newsworthy to the FCC in the next administration.”
The agency in March ordered ABC to seek a ruling that “The View” qualified as a bona fide news program.
ABC said the FCC in 2002 declared the show was such a program and noted hundreds of political candidates had appeared on it since then.
“The View” in its last two seasons has asked a number of Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance and former Trump adviser Elon Musk, to appear on the show, but they declined.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He ordered an early review of licenses for Disney’s eight ABC stations last month, a day after Trump demanded ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel be fired for a joke. The FCC has not revoked a broadcast license in more than four decades.
Anna Gomez, the sole Democratic commissioner on the FCC, praised Disney’s action. “What the public will remember is who complied in advance and who fought back. I’m glad Disney is choosing courage over capitulation,” she said in a statement.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Paul Simao)
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