Key Points
- The Walt Disney Company and its ABC network are challenging a Federal Communications Commission investigation into “The View” and the agency’s “equal time” rule for political candidates.
- Disney claims the FCC is applying inconsistent standards by targeting TV programs but not radio talk shows.
- The probe is part of broader FCC scrutiny of ABC stations, including a separate review tied to licensing and DEI practices.
The Walt Disney Company’s broadcast network ABC is pushing back against a probe launched by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over political-related reporting requirements for its local television station in Houston.
In a petition filed with the agency made public on Friday, Disney and ABC say the FCC has launched a baseless investigation into whether its daytime talk show program “The View” qualifies for the agency’s bona fide news exemption to a long-standing “equal time” rule that typically requires broadcast outlets to provide comparable airtime to political candidates upon request.
Since the mid-1990s, daytime and late night talk shows with interview segments, including “The View” have been exempt from the “equal time” rule on the basis that the shows are comparable to news broadcasts. The blanket exemption dates back to an interview first aired by NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” ABC says The View was given the same exemption in the early 2000s.
Earlier this year, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency was no longer granting blanket exemptions to TV programs that air interviews with political candidates, with the benefit offered to shows on the basis of their “political motivations.” Carr said the reversal would not apply to radio talk shows.
In its petition on Friday, Disney noted that the decision to scrutinize programs like “The View,” but not AM radio talk shows, was contradictory, since both typically air interviews with political candidates. The company cited numerous examples of blatant line-blurring by conservative AM radio show hosts, including one who made a political endorsement while on the air.
“The danger is that the government will simply decide which perspectives to regulate and which to leave undisturbed,” lawyers for Disney said in their filing. “In fact, while the Commission now questions The View’s decades-long exemption, it has not expressed any inclination to apply a similar interpretation of the equal opportunities rule to other broadcasters, including the many voices—conservative and liberal—on broadcast radio.”
Disney said the FCC’s decision to target TV programs it deems politically unfavorable, while not challenging political talk shows on AM radio, was a “clear disparity in the treatment of broadcasters” and “raises serious concerns about viewpoint discrimination and retaliatory targeting.”
The petition came after the FCC launched an investigation into The View earlier this year, following a February appearance by Texas Representative James Talarico, who was running for office.
That same month, FCC Media Bureau Acting Chief Erin Boone sent a letter to executives at KTRK (Channel 13), the ABC-owned station in Houston, inquiring whether the station disclosed Talarico’s appearance in its public inspection files — a compilation of documents related to broadcast operations that all licensed TV stations are required to maintain.
The letter was directed at KTRK and ABC, though broadcast networks are not typically regulated by the FCC. Boone directed KTRK and the network to “produce and submit to the Commission a petition for declaratory ruling” with evidence supporting the broadcaster’s determination that it should be granted an exemption to the agency’s “equal time” rules. (Boone was promoted to serve as Carr’s Deputy Chief of Staff last week.)
Disney said the request exceeded the scope of the FCC’s legal authority, because the agency cannot require broadcasters to file petitions for relief or otherwise initiate legal proceedings. Nonetheless, the filing made with the FCC on Thursday — which was only made public on Friday — took the form of the petition that the FCC’s Media Bureau first sought.
A spokesperson for the FCC said the agency enforces the “equal time” rule because it “encourages more speech and empowers voters to decide the outcome of elections.” The spokesperson did not address Disney’s specific allegation that the FCC was targeting specific TV broadcasters, but not conservative AM radio shows, despite the rule applying to both.
The issue is separate from one Disney and ABC are facing involving the broadcast licenses of KTRK and seven other TV stations that is rooted in a year-long investigation into the network’s hiring and promotional practices. Last year, Carr expressed concern that Disney’s use of diversity, equity and inclusiveness (DEI) programs violated federal employment laws. The FCC has not provided any evidence that proves that to be the case.
Still, last month, the Media Bureau ordered Disney to renew the applications of KTRK and the other seven stations early, which allows the agency to scrutinize the company’s business practices and evaluate them against certain elements by which licenses are awarded. The order was unprecedented — no broadcaster has ever been asked to renew the applications of all their local TV stations early.
Disney has until the end of May to file the applications, to include renewals for some stations whose broadcast licenses are otherwise valid for a few more years. It isn’t clear if the company intends to do so.
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