FCC chairman Brendan Carr accused Disney and ABC of running a “campaign of misinformation” after it launched ad spots looking to rally public support in the regulator’s reviews of “The View” and an early renewal of its eight owned stations’ broadcast licenses.
“One of the things that I saw was a statement from them in this ad campaign that says the FCC is trying to control who can appear on the show. Look, Disney has a lot of high-priced lawyers, so I would assume that they understand the law and the law is actually very clear. If you’re not bona fide news, the law simply requires the offering of comparable time and placement. It doesn’t dictate that you have to be on any particular show,” Carr told reporters during the FCC’s monthly press conference on Thursday. “So to accept that was a statement of law, that’s not consistent with what the law provides.”
To date, the proceeding evaluating ABC’s petition that “The View” should qualify as a “bona fide” news program has received over 16,000 public comments. When asked about the comments, Carr said that Disney is “running a fairly standard, off-the-shelf strategy” and argued that the FCC is simply enforcing the provisions of the Communications Act.
“Disney has a dispute with the law that Congress has passed and that’s fine, but Congress is the forum for that. We’re going to apply the law,” he added. “We have not made a decision one way or the other, we’re open-minded, we’ll see what they say, but that was, I think, probably the basis for some of those comments.”
ABC’s petition comes after the FCC issued new guidance in January warning that late night and daytime talk shows will not be exempt from the equal opportunities requirements put in place by Congress.
Under the Communications Act of 1934, Congress put protections in place to ensure equal access to broadcast station facilities for legally qualified candidates for office, regardless of political affiliation. The rule covers individuals who have publicly announced their intention to run for office and qualify under applicable state or federal law to hold the office being sought.
In 2006, the FCC determined that “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” qualified for an exemption from the rule as a “bona fide news interview” — the first time that such an exemption had been applied to a late night talk show.
At the time, the agency said it has “not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption.” It added that any program that is “motivated by partisan purposes” would not be entitled to an exemption under longstanding FCC precedent.
A month later, Carr confirmed that the regulator launched an investigation into “The View” for allegedly violating the “equal time” rule when it aired an interview with then Texas Democratic Senatorial candidate James Talarico.
Then in April, the FCC demanded that ABC submit an early license renewal for its eight owned affiliate stations as part of an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. A month later, ABC said it was filing the early renewal “under protest” in response to the agency’s “unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional” order.
The public can comment via the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System online and enter the corresponding docket number along with their submission.
The deadline for public comment in “The View” proceeding was Monday, with replies due July 6. Meanwhile, the deadline for petitions to deny the license renewal are June 29, while opposition is due July 29 and replies are due Aug. 5.
The docket for “The View” inquiry is No. 26-124, while the docket for the license renewal inquiry is No. 26-131.
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