The Federal Communications Commission and its outspoken commissioner Brendan Carr are taking aim at daytime talk shows like ABC’s The View and late night shows like NBC’s Tonight Show. https://t.co/wMF50Rx5AK
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 22, 2026
-Brendan Carr is head of The FCC is once again targeting talk shows in a bid to have them talk less about MAGA
-This time around, he is trying to change the political equal time rules that daytime and nighttime talk shows are exempt from.
-Talk shows have been given an equal opportunities exemption since 1996 when it first came into play during Jay Leno’s Tonight show
-“Importantly, the FCC 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,” the FCC wrote. “Moreover, a program that is motivated by partisan purposes, for example, would not be entitled to an exemption under long-standing FCC precedent.”
-Should Carr be successful, stations must offer comparable time and placement to rival candidates regardless of political affiliation anytime talk shows bring up or interview political candidates.
