US EditionFCC says US late-night, daytime talk shows must offer equal time for candidate interviews
The FCC warns that talk show political interviews may require equal time for opposing candidates, addressing potential partisan misuse of public airwaves ahead of elections.
- On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission Media Bureau issued a public notice clarifying equal-time rules for late-night and daytime talk-show interviews, applying only to broadcast television stations.
- The 2006 precedent that exempted Jay Leno's Schwarzenegger interview was a 2006 staff-level decision , but the Media Bureau said broadcasters wrongly treated it as a blanket exemption for talk shows.
- Section 315 requires licensed broadcast stations to provide comparable time and placement to rival candidates, file political file entries, and seek FCC Media Bureau petitions for declaratory ruling to confirm exemptions.
- With midterm elections approaching, broadcasters may re-evaluate bookings for political guests, and the FCC Media Bureau’s move could prompt more petitions and increased scrutiny this year.
- Anna Gomez criticized the FCC’s move as `an escalation in this FCC's ongoing campaign to censor and control speech`, while past incidents like Jimmy Kimmel's removal and NBC's equal-time responses underscore ongoing tensions.
41 Articles
41 Articles
FCC says US late-night, daytime talk shows must offer equal time for candidate interviews
The Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday that daytime and late-night TV talk shows featuring interviews with political candidates must comply with "equal time" rules that give airtime to views of opposing candidates and that the shows cannot rely on a 2006 decision that suggested they were exempt.
Late night shows like Jimmy Kimmel's have long been a thorn in the U.S. president's eye. In the election year, the editorial staff are now subject to stricter rules. Critics see this as a state intimidation attempt.
REPORT: The FCC is Going to Start Cracking Down on Partisan TV Shows That Exist Only to Bash One Side Every Single Day
Shows like ‘The View’ and liberal late-night shows, may soon find themselves under pressure from the FCC to include more Republican guests and to present a point of view other than the constant one-sided programming we see every day.
If politicians are to be interviewed in talk shows in the future, opponents must be granted the same broadcasting time, according to the FCC. A Democrat speaks of an escalation.
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