FCC Takes Aim at Jimmy Kimmel and ‘The View,’ Gives Legal Warning to Late Night, Daytime TV Shows That Don’t Book Conservatives

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, is cracking down on broadcast networks that air “partisan” late-night or daytime talk shows, stating that such programs are not actually exempt from the government’s equal time requirements. On Wednesday, Mr. Carr issued regulatory guidance for broadcast networks, warning that daytime talk shows and late-night shows must give political candidates equal time on their programs. In a post on X, Mr. Carr wrote, “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.”ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The View” have in recent years spent more and more time focusing on politics from a liberal point of view. On CBS, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which is being canceled, has been resolutely anti-Trump. Similarly the Seth Myers ultra-late night show has overwhelmingly liberal content. The aforementioned broadcasts almost exclusively book Democrats for their problems.x.The guidance cited Section 315 of the Communications Act, which states, “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 notice said that in 1959, lawmakers created an exemption for “bona fide newscast[s].” In 2006, the FCC said that the interview portion of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” qualified for the “bona fide news interview” exemption, marking the first time the exemption was granted to a late-night show. It added that there have been “concerns” that the exemption applied to “all arguably similar entertainment programs.”“This is not the case,” the notice states. “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 says that broadcasters can petition to secure an exemption for their programs, but cautioned, “The Media Bureau encourages all television broadcast stations to ensure that they are making all appropriate equal opportunity filings.”Networks that are found to have violated the equal time rule can be slapped with fines that increase in severity if there are repeated violations.Last year, Mr. Carr suggested that talk shows, such as ABC’s “The View,” may be violating the FCC’s equal time requirements.“I would assume you can make the argument that ‘The View’ is a bona fide news show, but I’m not so sure about that,” he told conservative commentator Scott Jennings. “And I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether ‘The View’ and some of these other programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place.”A study conducted by the right-leaning media watchdog NewsBusters found that in the first six months of 2025, 99 percent of the guests on late-night shows were on the left. The guests included left-wing, Democratic politicians such as Senator Cory Booker and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Other left-wing guests included MS NOW’s Rachel Maddow and Hollywood star George Clooney, a prolific Democratic fundraiser. In September, a conservative law firm, the Center for American Rights, urged the FCC to investigate ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel over his fundraising for Democratic candidates, which he declined to disclose on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” even as he hosted candidates that he was actively supporting off-camera, such as Vice President Harris.Mr. Kimmel also faced scrutiny after he suggested that the person accused of shooting Charlie Kirk was part of a “MAGA gang.” The comment led to Sinclair Broadcasting and Nexstar Media, which are owned by conservatives, to preempt Mr. Kimmel’s show for a few days, and the late-night host was temporarily suspended by ABC. Liberals — and Senator Ted Cruz — accused the FCC chairman of pressuring the station groups to preempt Mr. Kimmel’s show by warning that they could take the “easy way” or the “hard way.” Mr. Carr insists he was not making a threat and was simply pointing out that someone could have filed a complaint against Mr. Kimmel with the FCC, which he said would be obligated to investigate.For the daytime hours, Mr. Carr has repeatedly criticized “The View” for its anti-Trump commentary. In July, the chairman warned ABC that there could be “consequences” for “The View” after co-host Joy Behar alleged that President Trump is “so jealous” of President Obama’s marriage to Michelle Obama. Democrats on Capitol Hill have repeatedly raised concerns about how Mr. Carr has wielded his agency’s authority. The ranking member on the House subcommittee on communications and technology, Doris Matsui, accused the chairman of “pulling every dirty trick in the book to weaponize his agency against dissenting voices and attack our First Amendment rights.”“He is trying to mislead the American people and pressure talk shows to go easy on the Trump Administration. We must stop it,” she wrote on X. Mr. Carr responded, “Decades ago, Congress made the decision to prevent covered broadcast tv programs from being used to advance certain partisan political purposes. While some may have been ignoring or misreading the law in recent years, enforcing the statute passed by Congress is not weaponization.”Mr. Carr has consistently said that he is merely enforcing the laws and requirements established by Congress for networks that rely on public airwaves, as NBC, CBS, and ABC do. He has said that cable networks, or podcasts, which are not regulated by the FCC, are free to air what he calls “partisan circus[es].”

FCC Takes Aim at Jimmy Kimmel and ‘The View,’ Gives Legal Warning to Late Night, Daytime TV Shows That Don’t Book Conservatives

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