FCC Opens Up Public Comment On Whether ABC’s ‘The View’ Is A News Show And Exempt From Equal Time Requirements

The FCC is now taking public comment on whether ABC‘s The View should qualify as a “bona fide news program,” and therefore be exempt from the agency’s equal time requirements.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the public comment period on Friday, with filings due by June 22 and replies by July 6.

Earlier this month, ABC challenged Carr’s crackdown on the equal time rule, including an investigation into The View after it featured a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, James Talarico, as a guest.

The network claimed that the FCC’s actions were an effort to chill its First Amendment rights. The network said in its filing that “some may dislike certain—or even most—of the viewpoints expressed on The View or similar shows. Such dislike, however, cannot justify using regulatory processes to restrict those views.”

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