The RecordExhibit 125
FCC tells talk shows they owe candidates equal time, and candidate interviews move off the air
Alleged means: Serious, credible accusations of illegality that no court or watchdog has decided yet.
On Jan. 21, 2026, the FCC's Media Bureau told broadcasters that late-night and daytime talk shows can no longer assume they are exempt from the equal-time rule for political candidates. Since then CBS and ABC have each kept an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico off broadcast television.
What happened
The rule requires a broadcast station that puts a legally qualified candidate on the air to offer comparable time to that candidate's rivals if they ask. News interviews are exempt, and talk shows had been treated as exempt since the Media Bureau granted that status to the interview portion of Jay Leno's 'Tonight Show' in 2006. The January notice said the FCC had seen no evidence that the interview portion of any talk show now on the air qualifies, and told programs that want assurance to petition for a ruling. In February Stephen Colbert said CBS did not air his interview with Talarico; CBS said the show had been given legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the rule for two other candidates. After Talarico appeared on ABC's 'The View', FCC chair Brendan Carr said the agency was investigating, and the Media Bureau directed ABC's Houston station, KTRK, to file a petition on whether the show qualifies as news. On Sept. 9, 2026, Jimmy Kimmel told viewers that his interview with Talarico would not air on television, out of consideration for ABC's stations, especially its Texas affiliates. It ran on YouTube, which the rule does not cover.
Where it stands
No court has ruled, and in the reporting we found the FCC has not decided whether 'The View' keeps its exemption. On May 7, 2026, ABC and KTRK filed the petition the FCC had required. They asked the agency to affirm an exemption that ABC says the FCC confirmed in 2002, and argued that the January notice chills protected speech on the eve of the 2026 elections and is enforced selectively, because the agency has not scrutinized formats such as talk radio. The Media Bureau took public comment through June 22. Anna Gomez, the commission's only Democrat, says the notice adopted no new rule and that Congress wrote the news exemption to protect editorial independence. ABC's separate lawsuit over the FCC's early review of its station licenses is covered in the entry on Kimmel's suspension.
The administration's side
Carr says the equal-time law does not stop anyone from interviewing anyone on broadcast television: where it applies, stations only have to offer comparable time and placement. He says shows do not count as news if their booking decisions are driven by partisan purposes, and that Congress passed the law to keep media gatekeepers from deciding elections. He accused Talarico of running a hoax with Kimmel. An FCC spokesperson said the law 'encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.'
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/equaltime/