The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is launching a probe into ABC's long-running daytime talk show, "The View," over "equal time" rules for political candidates after an interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico, a source told Reuters on Saturday.
Talarico appeared on the show Monday.
The FCC's equal time rule requires broadcast television and radio stations to provide legally qualified political candidates equal opportunities to use the airwaves if one candidate is given airtime, a policy designed to prevent broadcasters from favoring one contender over another.
The rule applies only to over-the-air broadcasters and includes several key exemptions for bona fide news coverage, interviews, documentaries and live news events, allowing stations to report on campaigns without triggering equal-time obligations for every candidate in a race.
The FCC last month clarified its guidance on its political equal time rules to include talk shows under the "statutory equal opportunities requirement," citing the Communications Act of 1934, "including their airing of late night and daytime talk shows."
"Under section 315, if a broadcast station permits any legally qualified candidate for public office to use its facilities, it shall provide an equal opportunity to all other legally qualified candidates for that office," the FCC wrote in a press release.
While the FCC has historically allowed a "bona fide" exemption for news programming that avoids equal-time obligations, the agency now says it has seen no evidence that interview segments on today's late-night or daytime talk shows meet that standard.
"Moreover, a program that is motivated by partisan purposes, for example, would not be entitled to an exemption under longstanding FCC precedent," the FCC said.
"Any program or station that wishes to obtain formal assurance that the equal opportunities requirement does not apply (in whole or in part) is encouraged to promptly file a petition for declaratory ruling that satisfies the statutory requirements for a bona fide news exemption."
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, denounced the probe. She suggested it was meant to bully networks and said broadcasters' First Amendment rights allow them to air candidate interviews.
"Like many other so-called 'investigations' before it, the FCC will announce an investigation but never carry one out, reach a conclusion, or take any meaningful action," she said. "This is government intimidation, not a legitimate investigation."
A study conducted by the Media Research Center and published last month found that "The View" had 128 liberal guests on the show but just two conservatives throughout 2025.
The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Disney and its ABC News unit declined to comment on Saturday.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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