ABC Network Files Formal Reply to FCC, Seeking to Reaffirm "The View" as Legitimate News
Jimmy Kimmel has also recently come under fire from the FCC.
The Disney-owned ABC Network continued its struggles with the Trump administration's FCC this week, formally responding to an investigation of the daytime talk show The View in regard to its political guests.
What's happening:
- As part of an ongoing battle with the Federal Communications Commission, the ABC network has filed a formal reply to the FCC's current investigation into The View.
- The network is seeking to reaffirm the daytime talk show as a legitimate news source, ensuring that it continues to be exempt from the FCC's "equal time" rule for political candidates who appear on the show. The investigation was launched earlier this year after an appearance on The View by U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico.
- According to a report in The Wrap, over 77,000 comments from the public have also been filed in response to the proceedings, most of which are in support of ABC.
- The public can still comment on the ABC license renewal via the official FCC website. Petitions to deny the license renewal were due June 29, while opposition is due July 29 and replies are due August 5.
- This all came as Vice President JD Vance made a surprise appearance on The View, while the FCC is locked in this ongoing battle.
What they're saying:
- ABC Network: "ABC did not come to the Federal Communications Commission asking for anything. The Commission compelled ABC to file the Petition for Declaratory Ruling at issue here, directing the network to explain why the government should not dictate which political candidates may appear on The View — even though the Commission itself resolved that very question in ABC’s favor more than two decades ago, ruling in 2002 that The View is a bona fide news program not subject to the equal opportunities requirement."
- "The commenters are right to be concerned. The First Amendment does not permit the government to sit in an editor’s chair. Yet that is the seat the Commission now proposes to take — deciding which broadcast programs qualify as legitimate news and, for those it finds wanting, compelling them to surrender their airtime to guests they never chose to feature."
- "Nothing about The View that the law cares about has changed since the Commission last answered that question more than two decades ago. The program remains regularly scheduled, remains under ABC’s control, and remains driven by the same lodestar — newsworthiness — that has long led it to interview the day’s most consequential figures, from Presidents and Senators to Supreme Court Justices. What has changed is not the program but the political climate around it."
More ABC News:
- James Cameron's 1994 blockbuster action/comedy True Lies will air as part of Wonderful World of Disney.
- Check out this week's guest list for The View.
- A special Disney Parks-focused edition of 20/20 aired ahead of the United States of America's 250th anniversary celebration.