The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to rule that ABC’s daytime talk show “The View” does not qualify as a bona fide news program, a finding that would strip a two-decade-old regulatory exemption and expose the Disney-owned broadcast to federal equal-time requirements for political candidates.
The expected ruling, first reported by Bloomberg, could come before Labor Day. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr opened the inquiry in February after the show hosted James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, on Feb. 2 without offering comparable airtime to his opponent.
If the commission formally classifies “The View” as entertainment programming, any legally qualified opposing candidate featured on the show would be entitled to request equivalent broadcast time.
The FCC is also moving to send a separate investigation of Disney’s broadcast television licenses to an administrative hearing. That proceeding could threaten the company’s eight ABC-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Fresno, Calif., according to Bloomberg’s sources. Those license renewals were moved up years ahead of schedule.
ABC has pushed back sharply. In reply comments filed with the FCC, the network argued that removing the exemption would amount to government interference in editorial decisions. “The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair,” ABC wrote in its filing.
The show’s 2002 exemption had never previously been challenged. Since Carr announced the inquiry, “The View” has pulled back on booking political candidates in competitive races, according to a Semafor analysis published July 5.
Any commission ruling against “The View” could be appealed to the full commission and then to federal court. Disney is expected to challenge adverse outcomes in both proceedings.
