FCC Inquiry Leads The View to Halt Political Candidate Bookings

The Federal Communications Commission launched an investigation in February into ABC’s daytime talk show The View for a possible breach of the 1930s “equal time” rule, which requires broadcast programs to give equal airtime to opposing political candidates. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the probe, prompting the show to stop featuring any political candidates running in competitive midterm races, according to a Semafor analysis.

ABC maintains that The View operates as a “bona fide news program” and therefore should not be subject to the rule, but the inquiry has already caused the program to proceed cautiously, rebuffing several candidate requests and limiting future political bookings despite its historic role as a key campaign‑stop for figures such as Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and other prominent office‑seekers.