Discover Top Posts Tagged with #equal time rule

The "Late Show" host on Monday night opened up about something the network "clearly doesn't want us to talk about."

Ed Mazza at HuffPost:

“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert tore into his future former employer on Monday night as he accused CBS of caving to Federal Communications Commission threats by spiking his interview with Texas state Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D). “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers ― who called us directly ― that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said. Colbert’s audience booed the news. “Then I was told, in some uncertain terms, that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on,” Colbert added. “And because my network clearly doesn’t want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.”

Colbert recapped how FCC Chair Brendan Carr is threatening to enforce equal time regulations for TV talk shows, which have long been exempt. “Well, sir, you’re chairman of the FCC,” Colbert said. “So, FCC you!” If the FCC moves forward with the plan, TV talk shows would not be allowed to interview political candidates unless they offer equal time to every candidate in the same race.

Carr’s proposal, Colbert noted, does not apply to right-wing talk radio, despite the fact that the FCC also regulates radio. “Let’s just call this what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert said. “He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diapers.” Then, Colbert directed his ire toward CBS. “Now, as I said, at this point, he’s just released a letter that says he’s thinking about doing away with the exception for late night,” Colbert said. “He hasn’t done away with it yet, but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had ... but I want to assure you, this decision is for purely financial reasons.”

[...] Colbert did ultimately interview Talarico on Monday and posted the conversation on his YouTube channel. Colbert said CBS would not allow him to mention the URL of that channel or provide a QR code on-screen with a direct link.

Stephen Colbert tore into CBS for booting the interview of Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) off its linear feed of The Late Show.

Dear CBS and the FCC, you may have just given Talarico the nomination and possibly a general election victory.

From the 02.16.2026 edition of CBS's The Late Show With Stephen Colbert:

See Also:

Daily Kos: Trump’s FCC goon demands talk shows give Republicans equal time

#FCC #Trump Regime #Equal Time Rule #Brendan Carr #Daytime Talk #Late Night Talk #Television #The View #Jimmy Kimmel #Stephen Colbert #Saturday Night Live

FCC Chair Brendan Carr announces a politically-motivated investigation into ABC's The View over 'serious questions' about its alleged "news value"

Brenton Blanchet at People:

Brendan Carr is shedding some light on the FCC's ongoing "investigation" into The View. The Trump administration's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair said in a Tuesday, April 28 interview on The Katie Miller Podcast that the FCC has "raised serious questions" with the long-running ABC talk show. Carr previously announced in February that the agency was exploring “an enforcement action" against the show after it welcomed James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, as a guest. The View had reportedly been under investigation for potentially violating the FCC's Equal Time Rule, a restriction that forced broadcasters to provide commensurate airtime to opposing candidates, if requested.

"They are asserting that The View is what the statute calls a 'bona fide' news program. And if you're a bona fide news program under the law, you actually don't have to comply with equal time requirements," said Carr, 47. "They're asserting that they're bona fide news just like, I don’t know, Meet The Press used to be, or something like that. There's obviously questions have been raised about whether they are, in fact, bona fide news." He added, "We've asked them to file a petition at the FCC to try to get some clarification on that. And we'll see where that goes... I think there's a lot of questions have been raised." [...] A network source told PEOPLE in February that the panel show regularly hosts sitting leaders and political candidates from across the political spectrum to discuss current events, which is consistent with how The View has operated for years.

On Tuesday’s edition of The Katie Miller Podcast, terrorist-coddling FCC Chair Brendan Carr announced he is conducting a politically-motivated “investigation” into ABC’s The View over its “news value.”

From the 04.28.2026 edition of The Katie Miller Podcast:

#Brendan Carr #Katie Miller #The View #ABC #The Katie Miller Podcast #FCC #Broadcast News Media #Daytime Talk #Television #Equal Time Rule

The broadcast network's rebuke comes amid a broader fight with Chair Brendan Carr over the company’s TV station licenses.

John Hendel at Politico:

Disney’s ABC lambasted the Federal Communications Commission’s newfound efforts to regulate interviews on broadcast talk shows, warning that Chair Brendan Carr’s “unprecedented” actions threaten to “chill” the First Amendment and stifle coverage of political candidates. The regulatory filing marked the latest stage in a confrontation between the broadcasting networks and Carr, who has used his tenure atop the nominally independent FCC to wage a series of fights against perceived foes of President Donald Trump. In this case, the dispute involves Carr’s efforts to wield a decades-old “equal time” rule to demand that broadcast talk shows such as ABC’s “The View” offer equal time to both parties when interviewing political candidates. Such shows had previously relied on the FCC’s exemption for what it calls “bona fide” news interviews — but now, their ability to air those interviews is in doubt, ABC wrote.

“Uncertainty as to the scope of broadcast licensees’ editorial discretion threatens to limit news coverage of political candidates and chill core First Amendment-protected speech for years and potentially decades to come,” ABC wrote in the 52-page petition to the agency, unveiled Friday. “As the 2026 midterm election approaches, the American people need more access to political news and more exposure to political candidates, not less.”

An FCC spokesperson defended Carr’s approach and but told POLITICO that the agency would review ABC’s arguments that “The View” should be exempt from the equal time rules. “Decades ago, Congress passed a law that generally prohibits broadcast television programs from putting a thumb on the scale in favor of one political candidate over another,” said the spokesperson, who was granted anonymity in keeping with commission practice. “Specifically, Congress put protections in place to ensure that covered programs offer legally qualified candidates for office (both Republican and Democrat) equal time on the public airwaves. The equal time law encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.”

[...] In its petition, ABC requested that the FCC honor its “bona fide news” exemption for “The View” and warned that 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.”

ABC to the FCC: Kiss my grits.

#ABC #The View #Brendan Carr #Censorship #Equal Time Rule #FCC #Disney

"There was no censorship here at all," Carr told reporters.

Ryan Grenoble and Sebastian Murdock at HuffPost:

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Wednesday denied the government censored CBS “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert after the network forbid him from airing an interview with a U.S. Senate candidate earlier this week. “There was no censorship here at all,” Carr told reporters. Instead of censorship, Carr blamed Texas state Rep. James Talarico (D) of committing a “hoax” related to CBS not airing his interview. “You had a Democrat candidate who understood the way the news media works and he took advantage of all of your, sort of, prior conceptions, to run a hoax, apparently for the purpose of raising money and getting clicks,” Carr claimed. “And the news media played right into it.” The “hoax” claim doesn’t appear to be factually supported, however: Colbert first brought up the censorship to his audience Monday, not Talarico.

“We were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers ― who called us directly ― that we could not have [Talarico] on the broadcast,” Colbert said Monday. [...]

Colbert proceeded to explain that the FCC, under Carr, has threatened to require late night TV talk shows to give equal time to every political candidate in a race, and it appears CBS decided to comply in advance. (Notably, Trump’s FCC has not threatened to apply the same rule to right-wing talk radio.) [...] Colbert said CBS discouraged Talarico as a guest, seemingly fearing the FCC would impose an equal-time rule that hasn’t previously been used for late-night talk shows. Talarico is running against Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat.

You are a liar, Brendan Carr.

#Brendan Carr #James Talarico #FCC #Stephen Colbert #Equal Time Rule #CBS

The FCC didn’t need a ban. It changed the risk, and the fight is now playing out on air.

Olivia Troye at Olivia Of Troye (02.18.2026):

Stephen Colbert roasted his own network last night.

This isn’t about late-night television. It’s about how power moves when no one thinks it has to shout. For the second night in a row, Colbert used The Late Show to publicly rebuke CBS over its handling of his interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. On air, he suggested executives were caving to pressure by trying to apply the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) equal-time rule to his show, something that, for decades, hasn’t applied to bona fide news interviews on late-night television. CBS pushed back. In a statement, the network said The Late Show "was not prohibited" from airing the interview. Instead, it said the show was provided legal guidance that broadcasting the segment "could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates," and that it was given options for fulfilling those obligations. The show chose another route. Colbert aired the interview on YouTube instead. That difference, prohibition versus risk calculation, is the real story. Because this isn’t happening in isolation.

What Changed

In January, the FCC’s Media Bureau, under Chairman Brendan Carr, issued guidance stating that late-night and daytime talk shows are no longer presumed to qualify for the "bona fide news interview" exemption under Section 315 of the Communications Act. For decades, interview segments on shows like The Tonight Show, The View, and The Late Show were treated as qualifying under that exemption. The FCC is now saying: don’t assume that.

The guidance makes clear:

Programs motivated by "partisan purposes" do not qualify.

The agency has not been presented with evidence that current late-night or daytime talk shows qualify.

Broadcasters seeking certainty should file for a declaratory ruling.

Equal opportunity compliance must be strictly observed.

This shifts the burden to broadcasters. And it raises exposure.

Enforcement Has Begun

Earlier this month, the FCC opened an investigation into whether ABC’s The View violated equal time rules after hosting James Talarico—the same Democratic Senate candidate at the center of Stephen Colbert’s dispute with CBS. The pattern speaks for itself… The FCC chair had previously singled out daytime and late-night programs as potential concerns. Furthermore, the Trump White House has repeatedly expressed its disdain for The View.

President Trump has repeatedly urged the agency to act against broadcasters he believes provide one-sided coverage. This is no longer theoretical pressure. When regulators reinterpret exemptions and begin investigations, legal departments respond quickly. Colbert says his network reacted to that environment. CBS says it offered compliance options. Both statements can be true.

[...] Stephen Colbert didn’t cancel the interview with James Talarico. He moved it. When CBS wouldn’t air it on broadcast television, he aired it on YouTube. That is what refusal looks like. This is still America. The First Amendment still stands. And no regulator, no matter how aggressive, gets to decide what citizens are allowed to hear without challenge. Around the world, governments that consolidate power often begin by narrowing media exemptions, opening investigations, or using regulatory authority to signal scrutiny ahead of elections. So here’s the reminder: If rules change, debate them openly. If investigations begin, contest them publicly. Don’t step back just because someone suggests you should. I can’t tell you how many people have advised me to be careful. To stop speaking out. To avoid making myself a target.

Stephen Colbert has more integrity than the entirety of CBS’s spineless management.