FCC guidance requires daytime, late-night talk shows to offer equal time for candidate interviews

The Federal Communications Commission issued guidance requiring daytime and late-night talk shows to offer equal time for opposing candidates' interviews.

"For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as 'bona fide news' programs - even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes. Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities," FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted on X on Wednesday.

Talk shows have qualified for the equal opportunities exemption as genuine news interviews since the FCC’s Media Bureau granted an exemption to the interview part of Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” in 2006, with networks relying on the ruling as a precedent for recent interviews with political candidates, NBC News reported.

The FCC’s Media Bureau said Wednesday that networks should not rely on the 2006 decision, adding that 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 an exemption.

The agency also noted that any program or station seeking assurances that the equal time requirements do not apply should “promptly file a petition for a declaratory ruling.”

Democratic FCC member Anna Gomez said the guidance was contrary to the commission’s long-standing view that daytime news shows and late-night programs are entitled to editorial discretion based on newsworthiness, not political favoritism. She called the announcement “an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech. ... The First Amendment does not yield to government intimidation. Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation.”

The equal time rule does not apply to bona fide news programs, and is typically in effect 90 days before a political candidate’s nomination by convention or caucus.