The Federal Communications Commission has opened an investigation into ABC’s daytime talk show The View, according to a report published Friday by Fox News Digital. A source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that the probe centers on the FCC’s rarely enforced equal-time rule.
“Fake news is not getting a free pass anymore,” the source said, Mediate reported.
The equal-time rule, part of the Communications Act of 1934, requires broadcast stations to provide equal opportunities to legally qualified political candidates when one is given airtime.
In January, the FCC said it would issue guidance to ABC, CBS, and NBC on compliance with the statute.
“Under section 315, 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 FCC said in a statement last month.
The statement said the agency was particularly concerned with the airing of political content on daytime and late-night talk shows.
A source told Fox News Digital that the investigation was triggered by a recent appearance on “The View” by James Talarico, a Democratic Senate candidate from Texas.
Talarico’s interview was among the first candidate appearances on the program following the FCC’s announcement that it would more strictly enforce the equal-time provision, the source said.
The FCC has historically applied a “bona fide news” exemption that allows news programming to avoid equal-time requirements.
However, the agency said it has not been presented with evidence that interview segments on current daytime or late-night talk shows qualify for that exemption.
According to the source, ABC parent company The Walt Disney Company did not submit an equal-time filing to the FCC following Talarico’s appearance.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said last month that late-night programs hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert were of particular interest to the agency.
“If Kimmel or Colbert want to continue to do their programming,” Carr said, “they can go to a cable channel or a podcast or a streaming service.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez sharply criticized the investigation in a statement to Mediaite.
“Let’s be clear on what this is. This is government intimidation, not a legitimate investigation,” Gomez said.
She argued the probe is intended to chill protected speech and misuse the FCC’s regulatory authority.
“The First Amendment protects the right of daytime and late-night programs to cover newsworthy issues and express viewpoints without government interference,” Gomez said, urging broadcasters to resist what she called unfounded pressure.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is being discussed internally as a potential future host on ABC’s daytime talk show The View, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The discussions are preliminary, and no decisions have been finalized, the sources said. Greene has not publicly commented on the reported conversations, and ABC has not confirmed any potential casting plans.
A producer for The View told the Daily Mail that Greene is being considered as a potential long-term addition to the show, though no immediate plans have been made.
“Never say never,” the producer said when asked whether Greene, 51, could eventually join the panel.
Greene’s demeanor off-camera significantly influenced changes in attitudes among the co-hosts and others associated with the show, the same source added. “She was actually really lovely behind the scenes – no one expected that,” the source said.
The producer also pointed to measurable audience impact during Greene’s appearance.
“And I know that we had a lot more social media engagement that day. Before she was on, I’d have been like ‘absolutely not’, but now I could see the vision if they decided to go that route,” the insider continued.
The producer emphasized that no decision is imminent but said Greene is being considered seriously as a potential future option. “I don’t think it’s in the immediate plans or anything, but she is definitely someone who would be on a shortlist,” said the insider.